Are you suffering from pain due to fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, or other chronic conditions? Do you often have tension headaches? Do you suffer from joint pain associated with arthritis or another condition? If so, your doctor might suggest an injection to help relieve your pain.
A Trigger Point Injection, or TPI, is often used for pain management of a painful area of muscle that contains trigger points or knots of muscle. Trigger points can irritate the nerves around them or cause referred pain to other parts of the body. Often, this pain is described If you are in pain, due to overworked muscles or muscular tension, TPI might be right for you.
Pain associated with fibromyalgia, tension headaches, and myofascial pain syndrome is often alleviated by TPI. Muscle groups where TPIs are most commonly used include the arms, legs, back, and neck.
To perform the procedure, a health care professional inserts a small needle into the patient’s trigger point. Injections often contain a local anesthetic, saline, and/or corticosteroid. Ultimately, the trigger point is deactivated and pain is alleviated. More than one injection can be given during one visit.
For pain in a joint, your doctor may recommend a steroid or cortisone injection. These types of injections allow the doctor to deliver the medication to the exact points of inflammation. Steroid injections have minimal side effects and can continue relieving inflammation from six weeks to six months.
Pain from joint inflammation can happen for various reasons, including conditions that either affects tissue around the joint like bursitis and tendonitis, or that originate inside of the joint, such as rheumatoid arthritis and gout.
Using these injections to treat joint pain can often allow patients to treat painful arthritis flare-ups, participate in physical therapy, to rest the joint, or to postpone possible surgery. Since almost all arthritis is chronic, these injections are generally just one part of a bigger treatment plan.
With either of these injections, the doctor or another health professional will use an iodine or alcohol-based cleaning solution on your skin, where you will get the shot. Sometimes, the professional will put numbing lotion or spray on the spot. After the injection, you will wear a bandage over the injection site. If the injection is going into a joint that has excess fluid, the doctor may use a separate syringe to extract the extra fluid.
Your doctor knows you and your medical history best, so he is the ideal person to find the options that will work best for you, and help you decide how to manage your pain. Talk to your doctor today to take the first step toward a pain-free life.
If you are in pain or have questions, please give us a call at 817-551-5400 or schedule your appointment using our online scheduler.
