Joint Pain Specialist

What causes joint pain?

Joint pain often begins when the structures inside the joint become damaged, whether due to injury or disease. Injuring the supporting ligaments and muscles also causes painful joints. 

The most common causes of joint pain include: 

• Osteoarthritis
• Torn ligaments
• Meniscus injuries
• Tendinitis
• Bursitis
• Fractures
• Dislocations
• Rotator cuff injuries
• Labral tears
• Facet joint arthritis
• Tennis elbow
• Runner’s knee

No matter what causes your joint pain, Metro Anesthesia & Pain Management offers many effective treatment options. 

What symptoms accompany joint pain?

The conditions that cause joint pain usually result in other symptoms. You may have any of the following: 

• Swelling
• Redness
• Bruising
• Joint instability
• Joint stiffness
• Loss of movement

When nerves in or around the joint suffer damage or become inflamed, you may have tingling or numbness. Pinched nerves in the spinal joints can also cause pain and tingling that travels down your arms or legs, depending on the location of the damaged nerve.

How is joint pain treated?

Before recommending treatment, your provider reviews your medical history and performs a complete physical examination. If you don't have a recent X-ray or MRI, they order diagnostic imaging.

Once they determine the source of your pain, they create a customized treatment plan based on your diagnosis. They take care of all treatments in the office so you can save on medical costs and don’t need to travel to another medical facility.

Your treatment plan may include any of the following:

Joint injections

Your provider may inject steroids, stem cells, or Hyalgan® (hyaluronic acid) directly into the joint. 

Steroids reduce inflammation, and stem cells heal the problem by regenerating new tissues. Hyaluronic acid restores smooth movement in arthritic joints and may slow down cartilage degeneration.

Trigger point injections

Your provider injects a local anesthetic with or without steroids into a tight muscle knot. The injection quickly relaxes the muscle and eases your pain.

Interventional treatments

When giving you an interventional treatment, your provider uses real-time imaging to target the nerves sending pain signals to your brain. Examples of interventional treatments include: 

• Radiofrequency ablation
• Epidural steroid injections
• Spinal cord stimulation
• Facet joint injections
• Medial branch block
• Sacroiliac joint injection
• Peripheral nerve block

These treatments use different techniques to block the pain signals and prevent them from reaching your brain. As a result, you can't feel the pain.

If you need relief from persistent joint pain, call Metro Anesthesia & Pain Management or book an appointment online today.