Are Joint Injections Effective for Pain Relief?
As mums our body undergoes a lot of physical changes starting from pregnancy to childbirth to caring for our little ones and even after that. Add to that the fact that motherhood is now common in the late 30’s age when degeneration (wear and tear) of our spine and joints starts, it is no surprise that our bodies can find these physical changes challenging. These physical changes can manifest as back pain, neck pain or joint pain. And for mums working in high demand jobs such as an executive role there is the additional stress of sitting at your desk for extra long hours, mental stress (leading to physical pain), long meetings and extensive travelling. All these add to the physical challenges of motherhood and they can contribute to the pains and discomforts. 
 
If you suffer from joint pain or tendinitis (inflammation/pain in your tendons) or a heel spur your doctor may have advised you to take a joint injection for pain relief. It can be a very overwhelming thought to get an injection into your joint and you might have a lot of questions regarding its effectiveness, pain from the injection and if an injection is really worth it? In this blog, we will address some of these common questions about joint injections and one big mistake that people do after they are given a joint injection. 
 
So why do you need an injection? Your doctor might advise you an injection if you have inflammation and pain that cannot be controlled by medication and may or maynot have been helped by physical therapy. It can also be advised for acute injuries to help ease the inflammation so that the body can repair and heal the affected area. 
 
You may be concerned that this is a steroid injection and yes, steroids get bad reputation as they can lead to weight gain. But those are mostly caused by long term use of steroid for chronic conditions, not from a one off injection. Repeated steroid injections into a joint can lead to muscle weakness in the area but most doctors will not advise more than three or maximum four injections in the full year, which is usually a safe zone. 

Usually a steroid injection will give pain relief between 3 to 7 days and can last for weeks to months to up to one year but that can vary from person to person. Once you are relatively pain free make sure you use this ‘golden time’ and do not make the mistake that most people do. Watch this video to find out what that is. (At 4.40 minutes in the video)



If you want to know more about how to manage your joint and spinal (neck and back) pain,  join my free community where we run regular trainings on simple solutions to manage these topics along with other common problems such as tennis elbow pain, heel spurs, jaw pain, ankle pain, etc. 

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Disclaimer: Please note that the decision about a joint injection rests between you and your doctor. It depends on your pain and your symptoms and your doctor is the best judge for this. This blog is just to bring awareness about the joint injection and to help you discuss this topic better with your doctor or other healthcare professionals. 

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