As a follow-up to this article about joint injections, I thought I would post an update about some personal experience.
My husband has osteoarthritis in one knee, a result of a skiing injury that occurred years ago and resulted in an ACL repair. Lately, the poor guy has been hobbling around for a couple of years. Last year, a steroid injection helped improve is mobility and activity tolerance. But of course, the pain returned this year.
Barely able to keep up with me and his new grandson, he elected to have the Synvisc One injection. This viscosupplementation product replaces the previous ones that required 3 to 5 consecutive weekly injection. A whole lot of fluid was injection which caused some immediate increase in pain from the added pressure. Now, three days later his knee is starting to feel better with improved range of motion.
I am not sure he will be able to keep up with me yet. But I am hopeful.
Dr. Christina Lasich, MD
My 89 y.o. mother has degenerative arthritis in ankle, knee, hip, fingers....she's had the cortisone in the knee with some success. However we just went to her orthopedic doctor about her neck pain: the xray showed almost no cushioning in between the spaces in her neck bones.
Her doctor said there is no treatment-- her neck bones are just worn out, and that is causing pain since there's no cushioning. He recommended she take her naproxen (which she must take with the omeprazole because of stomach side effects), and possibly some physical therapy to improve posture overall.
I'm wondering if perhaps the doctor doesn't know about these other injections, or can this not be done in between the neck bones?
Spine joints are a frequent cause of pain. Cortisone is injected into the neck in a procedure called an epidural steroid injection. This procedure is done for people who have nerve pain originating from the spinal nerve roots. Epidurals do not help relieve the pain from the spine joints.
The only needle-based procedure done for spine joint arthritis is a called a median branch block which temporarily blocks the nerve that transmits the pain signal from the spine joint. If the block is successful, then a radio frequency ablation can be done to cause a more lasting block.
Remember, these joints are much smaller than the knee or hip joints which lend themselves to simple injections rather well.
For neck pain, sometimes a good physical therapist can work wonders with simple exercises and manual techniques. Physical therapy is the first thing to try before sticking needles in the neck.
Dr. Christina Lasich, MD
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I just want to say that I have benefited greatly from joint injections. I have been having Synvisc injections in my knees for five years.
I have had steroid injections in my shoulder and my hip. Unfortunately, the hip injections don't work anymore. I may have the bursa removed. It is causing me a lot of pain.
Thanks for this article, Dr. L.
V