For knee pain, doctors can provide different types of treatments for relieving your symptoms. One of these treatments consists of injecting medication to reduce knee pain. In case, you did not get relief from drugs like ibuprofen, you can try these injections.
Different kinds of Knee Injections
Corticosteroids are glucocorticoids which are like cortisol. The latter is a hormone that your body naturally produces. Hydrocortisone is another injection that the doctor puts into your knee joint to lessen pain and lower inflammation.
Steroids treat inflammation and pain. These are not similar to anabolic steroids that bodybuilders use. Oral corticosteroids are available but they do not treat OA.
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Fluid aspiration or arthrocentesis
Your joint has a few ccs of synovial fluid. It eases your movement with its motion. Inflammation can make fluid collect in your knee joint. Arthrocentesis will take the extra fluid out of your knee which will provide immediate relief from swelling and pain.
Aspirating your joint fluid is significant for you if the doctor thinks that there is a joint infection. During this time, the doctor takes a sample of the joint fluid and sends it to a lab. This is essential for antimicrobial sensitivity, culture, and cell account. Later, he performs the crystal analysis.
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Botox and Hyaluronic acid
For osteoarthritis, one can go for injections of hyaluronic acid or visco supplementation, Prolotherapy can also be useful.
Conclusion
People who have osteoarthritis of the knee must consult their doctor before taking injections for pain relief. The effect of corticosteroid injections is not permanent. So, it will be essential to take repeat injections. However, for the prevention of side effects, the doctor does not repeat steroid injections until three to four months.
You can contact Dr. Vikram Rajguru and visit his Prolotherapy Clinic at Hadaspur, Pune.