Joint Injections

Joint injections often ease pain, reduce inflammation, and improve joint movement when other conservative treatments fail. Monica Hoog-Gage, ARNP, CNP, at Muskogee Family Practice, has extensive experience performing joint injections as part of a holistic treatment plan. If joint pain hinders your activities and you are looking for better quality of life, call the office to request an appointment. 

What are joint injections?

Joint injections deliver medication into an injured, swollen, or painful joint. Inserting the needle into the joint allows the full dose to reach the targeted tissues immediately, producing faster results and fewer systemic side effects compared to oral medications.

When would I need a joint injection?

Monica may recommend a joint injection to relieve inflammation, pain, stiffness, and other symptoms caused by:

• Osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Bursitis
• Tendonitis
• Tendon and ligament injuries
• Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Psoriatic arthritis

Joint injections may target large (knees, hips, and shoulders) and small (wrist, ankle, and fingers) joints.

What are the different types of joint injections?

At Muskogee Family Practice, Monica often administers joint injections containing one or more of the following:

Corticosteroids (cortisone)

Corticosteroids reduce inflammation and swelling in the tissues inside the joint. Your pain decreases as the inflammation subsides. Though these medications may not take effect for up to a week, they often produce long-lasting results.

Not everyone responds the same way to cortisone injections, but if it works, many people get pain relief lasting 3-6 months.

Local anesthetic

Monica may inject an anesthetic alone but often combines it with corticosteroids. Local anesthetics produce rapid pain relief, but the results are temporary.

How long the anesthetic lasts depends on the type and amount of medication injected. Your pain relief may last 30 minutes to six hours.

Hyaluronic acid (Synvisc®)

Hyaluronic acid is a joint injection (viscosupplementation) used to treat osteoarthritis. The joints naturally produce hyaluronic acid, a natural lubricating fluid that supports smooth movement.

People with osteoarthritis tend to have lower levels of hyaluronic acid. Injections to boost the substance help relieve pain, improve joint mobility, and may slow down the progressive joint damage caused by arthritis.

What happens during a joint injection?

At Muskogee Family Practice, Monica has extensive experience performing joint injections. She ensures your comfort by numbing the site with a topical anesthetic. Using real-time ultrasound imaging, she guides the needle to the targeted area.

Monica may need to withdraw a small amount of excess fluid from inside the joint to create space. Then, she injects the medication.

She may ask you to avoid certain activities for a few days, depending on the joint and the medication injected.

Call the office or request an appointment today if you have joint pain or want to learn if you’re a good candidate for a joint injection.  We offer several different knee medications.