If you’ve ever experienced joint pain, you know how negatively it can impact your daily life. Not only can it limit your mobility, but it can also ruin your favorite actives due to the excruciating discomfort.
Luckily there are multiple, non-invasive options available for joint pain, including joint injections!
Most common causes of joint pain are arthritis, long-standing injuries, stress from poor body mechanics, and ligament or tendon injuries. Join injections reduces inflammation, and therefore eases pain in the joints. Below we will go through some of the most common types of joint injections to treat chronic pain and inflammation.
For people with osteoarthritis and other types of joint pain in their shoulders, hips, and knees, corticosteroid injections have been used for many years and are frequently the first line of treatment. These injections usually offer relief for two to three months by reducing edema and irritation.
Hyaluronic acid is produced by your body. It’s a naturally occurring component of the fluid that lubricates, cushions, and maintains the smooth operation of your joints. Hyaluronic acid injections reduce discomfort for four to five months on average, but they can last up to a year. They act as a lubricant and shock absorber in the joint. Injections of hyaluronic acid are typically used for treating knee joint discomfort. They are frequently chosen if corticosteroids are ineffective or if there are no indications of inflammation.
Using healing agents like growth factors, platelet-rich plasma therapy uses a serum of concentrated platelets and plasma prepared from the patient’s own blood to help hasten recovery. These injections not only alleviate injuries, but also arthritic joint discomfort. Through the use of concentrated stem cells from the fat or bone marrow, stem cell treatment helps injuries heal more quickly and with less swelling.
If your joint pain is getting severe enough that it starts affecting your daily life, and limits your ability to do common physical activity, then it might be time to see a doctor that specializes in pain management. Dr. Shahbaz Farnad, M.D. at Miracle Mile Medical Group is a board-certified anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist, that specializes in joint injections for pain management.
To make an appointment with Dr. Farnad, simply call 323.433.7744. Or visit our contact page, here!
