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Do you suffer from shoulder pain that has failed to improve with time and/or conservative therapy? If so you may be a candidate for this quick and simple treatment option.

Intra-Articular Joint Injection Q&A

What is an Intra-Articular Joint Injection?

Intra-articular joint injections are common therapeutic procedures for reducing pain and inflammation including shoulder and hip regions from conditions like arthritis.

What are the Benefits?

These injections will help you experience pain relief to increase mobility or movement in the joint.

How Does it Work?

The procedure is minimally invasive and uncomplicated. Before the actual steroid injection, the doctor will inject a local anesthetic in the treatment area to numb the skin. The doctor will then inject the steroid, typically using ultrasound or other guided X-ray for proper placement.

How Many Treatments Will I Need?

Patients have reported relief for up to six months or longer from intra-articular steroid injections. In general doctors limit steroid injections into a single joint area to three or four times per year.

When Will I Feel Better?

It will take 1-2 days after the injection to feel better. 

Immediately following the procedure you will likely feel quite comfortable because the area will be numb from the first injection of the local anesthetic.

Generally the effects of the anesthetic will wear off about two hours following the procedure. At this time it’s normal to experience increased pain that may initially be worse than the pain experienced before the injection. This type of discomfort is called a post-injection flare and is the result of injecting a steroid directly into the joint. The pain will subside in a day or two, and it’s recommended to treat the area with ice and over-the-counter analgesics during this time period.

Is an Intra-Articular Joint Injection Right for Me?

If you have not experienced sufficient pain relief with treatments such as acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to reduce the inflammation, such as aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen, an injection of corticosteroid into the joint can sometimes be helpful for short-term pain relief and to increase mobility or movement in the joint. We will schedule an appointment with one of our Board Certified Physicians, to see if this treatment is a good fit for you.