We offer injection therapy at Trident Pain Center because it is a proven safe and effective way to help manage pain with lasting results. Injection therapy is often chosen as a method of pain management in place of expensive surgeries that require weeks of downtime and recovery. Every patient is different though and these decisions should be discussed with your provider.
There are injection therapy options for nearly every type of pain a patient is experiencing, depending on location, muscle damage, skeletal or nervous structures, and overall symptoms. Therapeutic injections for pain management can help decrease inflammation and discomfort.
What to Expect
Depending on the type of therapeutic injection, a specialist on our team will likely administer a local anesthetic in addition to a cortisone injection to help alleviate pain post-injection. Because the anesthetic is usually administered before the therapeutic injection, many patients feel relief quickly after.
Common Types of Injection Therapy Include:
- Caudal epidural injections
- Cervical epidural injections
- Lumbar epidural injection
- Thoracic epidural injections
- Transforaminal epidural injections
- Coccyx injection
- Hip injections
- Knee injections
- Occipital nerve blocks
- Peripheral nerve blocks
- Sacroiliac joint injections
- Sciatic nerve injections
- Shoulder injections
- Trigger point injections
In a study in 2018, almost 50% of patients who had hip infections saw pain relief in 2 weeks or less after their injections. Almost 35% continued to see pain relief even after 2 weeks.
Injection Pain
Most patients report that they experience little pain from the actual therapeutic injection. The injection location and the size and gauge of the needle affect the initial pain. While some injection pain might be unavoidable depending on these variables, the end result of relief from pain pays off.
Injection Therapy Tips
While each case varies and every patient is different, there are a few things that you can do to make things a little easier on yourself. Try to remember to take slow, deep breaths in and out. Maybe even try counting your breathing, taking a deep breath in for 7 counts and exhaling for 7 counts. Depending on the injection site, you can also ask your provider if you can receive the injection while lying down. If you don’t like needles, look away or close your eyes. If you find that you are stressed about receiving the injection therapy, it also might be helpful to put in an earbud and listen to calming music. The actual procedure will only take a few minutes from start to finish and you should feel relief soon after!
Post-Injection Therapy
For the first two days post-injection, there might be some minor discomfort and you might see slight inflammation around the injection site. But the pain will soon start to fade and patients will be able to feel the positive effects.
Downtime after Injection Therapy
Unlike surgery, downtime for injection therapy is minimal and patients can go about their daily life pretty much right away. We do, however, recommend that patients use caution and protect the injection site for a few days, while keeping an eye on it to make sure that pain and swelling don’t increase. Depending on the type of injection therapy a patient receives, your doctor might recommend icing the injection site.
Make An Appointment at Trident Pain Centers
At Trident Pain Center, our pain specialists help patients with a wide range of conditions manage their pain so they can live fuller lives. Our health professionals will evaluate your case based on your specific pain, your history, pain management, and diagnostic tests. Contact us today to schedule an appointment or to learn more about injection therapy for pain management.
