Knee Joint Injections
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Knee joint injections can significantly reduce knee pain.
Having a healthy knee joint is crucial to enjoying nearly every aspect of your life. Your knee helps you walk, run, jump, and even stand. An injury to the knee joint can be devastating and can significantly impact your ability to perform even the most basic of activities. A knee joint injection can help treat the inflammation, reduce pain, and promote healing.
What Causes Knee Joint Pain?
Knee joint pain can be the result of an acute injury or a chronic disease and it can affect any of the ligaments, tendons and cartilage found in the knee joint. Some of the most common causes of knee joint pain include:
- Chronic arthritis disease
- Osteoarthritis
- Tendinitis
- Meniscus injury
- ACL/MCL injury
- Patella fracture or injury
Types of Knee Joint Injections
The type of injection you receive will depend largely on the type of injury you have and the severity of your injury. Some of the most common types of knee joint injections include:
- Corticosteroid injections
- Nerve blocks
Corticosteroid injections are by far the most common type of knee joint injection. Their main purpose is to reduce the inflammation and swelling in the knee joint, thus promoting healing. They are often ideal for patients who aren’t ready for knee surgery but who have not received pain relief from oral medications alone. When inflammation is reduced, pain is also reduced. The benefits of a corticosteroid injection can last up to 6 months.
Knee Joint Injection Benefits
Knee joint injections can be performed here at Seattle Pain. Before the injection, the skin is cleaned well with antiseptic. There may be times when the doctor chooses to withdraw fluid from the joint before injecting the medication. This is performed with a local anesthetic.
Patients who receive knee joint injections often achieve considerable pain relief and an increase in mobility. After the initial injection, patients are often able to be more mobile, perform physical therapy exercises better, and engage in an active and healthy lifestyle again. For some patients, one knee joint injection may be all that is needed to reduce pain and swelling and promote healing. For other patients, repeated injections may be required. While corticosteroid knee joint injections do not heal damaged tissues or slow the progression of arthritis, they can improve your overall quality of life by reducing the pain and swelling in the joint.
What are the Risks of a Knee Joint Injection?
The risks of a knee joint injection are similar to receiving any type of injection. There can be bleeding or infection at the injection site or there could be damage to the tissue or nerves. All of these risks should be discussed with your pain management specialist prior to treatment.
Are you suffering from debilitating knee pain?
Contact Our Pain Management Specialists
When your knee pain becomes debilitating and causes you to miss out on your life, Seattle Pain can help. We believe in treating the whole patient – and not just the illness or injury. That’s why our pain management specialists offer numerous alternatives for pain relief. You do not have to live in pain.
