Hip Injections
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When hip pain has plagued you for a very long time, and other treatments have shown little improvement, it could be time to consider a hip injection.
When your hip joint experiences arthritis, mechanical stress or injury, it can cause you significant pain. If you have tried conservative remedies, such as over-the-counter pain medications, with no relief, your doctor may recommend a hip joint injection. When you receive a hip joint injection, medication is injected directly into your hip joint. This procedure can not only diagnose the source of your pain, it can alleviate that pain. As a diagnostic tool, numbing medication is injected into your hip joint.
Depending on the amount of immediate pain relief you experience, your doctor can determine whether the source of your pain is your hip joint. If you experience total pain relief, then it is likely your hip joint is causing your pain. If this is the case, you will then receive a hip injection containing both a numbing medication, as well as a time-release corticosteroid drug which will reduce inflammation in the hip joint, providing longer-term pain relief.
The Procedure for a Hip Injection
Like most injections, fluoroscopy (live x-ray) is used to place the needle properly, avoiding any type of nerve damage. You will be asked to lie face down on an x-ray table. The skin will be numbed, and a very small needle will be placed in the joint, then a contrast dye will be injected to ensure the medication will only reach the hip joint. A mixture of anesthetic and anti-inflammatory corticosteroid medication will then be slowly injected in the joint.
From start to finish, the procedure generally takes up to 30 minutes. It is perfectly normal to experience a slight increase in the pain for a few days, as the lidocaine wears off and the corticosteroid medication begins to kick in. Applying ice packs to the injection site can provide some pain relief, and is usually more beneficial than applying heat.
Risks Associated with Hip Injections
While hip injections are generally considered low-risk procedures, one or more of the following side effects could occur:
- You could have an allergic reaction to the anesthetic or the corticosteroid medication
- You could develop an infection
- You could have joint swelling and pain, known as post-injection flare
- The skin surrounding the injection site could whiten
- The skin surrounding the injection site could thin
- A tendon in the pathway of the injection could rupture
Following your hip injection, the Seattle Pain interventional pain management specialists will evaluate your hip pain, developing a customized, comprehensive pain treatment program designed to help you get back to your normal day-to-day activities.
Is your hip pain causing you to miss out on life?
Contact Our Seattle Interventional Pain Management Specialists
We understand that severe and chronic hip pain can be difficult to control. At Seattle Pain, our primary goal is to relieve your pain and improve your quality of life. We believe in treating the whole patient – and not just the injury. You do not have to live in pain. Call us today.
