Medical Injections Specialists in Nashville

What Role do Injections Play in Sports Medicine and Orthopedics?

There are several uses for injections in treating musculoskeletal injuries and other conditions:

Diagnosis

Nerve block injections contain a local anesthetic that completely numbs your body in a specific area. Your provider at Elite Sports Medicine + Orthopedics can use a nerve block injection to determine the pain source in your spine.

Treatment

Anesthetics and drugs such as corticosteroids are a valuable treatment option for many forms of back and neck pain, joint pain, and other conditions like neuropathic pain.

Injections aren't typically one of the first options for treating orthopedic conditions. Your provider is likely to recommend conservative approaches such as activity modification, physical therapy, and medication to begin with, as these are safe and often highly effective.

If your condition doesn't improve after using these methods for several months, injections may be the next step.

What Type of Injection Might I Need?

If you have a back pain or neck pain, you're most likely to have an injection with a combination of local anesthetic and steroid medication. The injections may go into the epidural space surrounding your spinal cord or into a specific part of your spine, such as the facet joints.

Steroids are potent anti-inflammatory drugs that tackle persistent and severe inflammation. They may keep working for many months, reducing pain and helping you follow a rehabilitation program.

Local anesthetic offers a fast but short-lived resolution to pain by numbing the affected area. The pain does return when the drug wears off, but many patients find that the longer-term quality or degree of pain they feel changes for the better following an injection.

These injections are also effective treatments for problems like joint pain from arthritis.

Are Injections Safe?

Injections are a safe treatment option for joint pain. The amount of injections that you can safely get will depend on the type of injection you recieve and the joint that is being treated. 

For example, our hand doctors advise getting up to 3 injections when treating trigger finger. After 3 injections, there is an increased risk for complications.

Every injection is different, but our orthopedic specialists will ensure that your treatment options are safe and effective. 

What Happens When I Have an Injection?

Having injections is an outpatient procedure that typically only requires a local anesthetic to numb the injection site.

Your surgical team at Elite Sports Medicine + Orthopedics uses image guidance technology to guide the needle placement. Viewing real-time, moving images of your spine or joints enables your provider to accurately insert the needle and deliver the drugs to the correct place.

To find out more information about receiving injections for joint pain, call Elite Sports Medicine + Orthopedics or book an appointment online today.