What are ultrasound-guided injections?
Ultrasound is a safe, noninvasive, and painless imaging technique. It uses high-frequency sound waves and their echos to create images of your internal organs, muscles, and other tissue.
An ultrasound-guided injection uses ultrasound imaging to ensure the precise location of an injection. The Rehab Doctors’ team uses ultrasound-guided injections to deliver powerful anti-inflammatories and other medications directly into an injury or for a condition that causes pain.
What are the different types of ultrasound-guided injections?
The Rehab Doctors’ team offers a variety of pain-relieving ultrasound-guided injections, including:
Intra-articular injections
The team uses ultrasound guidance to make intra-articular injections into the small joints of your hands, wrists, elbow, shoulder, feet, ankles, knees, or hips.
For example, if you have carpal tunnel syndrome, your doctor uses ultrasound to inject an anti-inflammatory into your wrist. They might also inject hyaluronic acid into arthritic joints.
Tendon sheath injections
The Rehab Doctors’ team uses ultrasound to guide tendon sheath injections to relieve conditions like Achilles tendonitis, de Quervain’s tenosynovitis, and plantar fasciitis.
Joint aspiration
Your doctor might recommend ultrasound-guided joint aspiration to diagnose gout or other types of arthritis. Joint aspiration can also extract fluid that contributes to pain and mobility problems.
Muscle injections
The Rehab Doctors’ team uses ultrasound-guidance for precise trigger point, muscle, or myofascial injections to relieve muscle pain.
What happens during an ultrasound-guided injection?
Ultrasound-guided injections are quick, safe outpatient procedures. Your doctor cleanses the skin covering your injection site and provides a local anesthetic.
Then, they move an ultrasound transducer over your skin. The transducer emits sound waves and collects echos. It sends the echoes to the computer that converts them into images.
Your doctor studies the ultrasound images and monitors the needle as they insert it into your body. The ultrasound allows them to place the needle in the precise location to deliver the best results.
When the injection is complete, your doctor withdraws the needle and bandages the injection site.
What should I expect after an ultrasound-guided injection?
Depending on the specific type of injection, you might have immediate pain relief, or you might need some time for the medication to take effect. In most cases, you can get back to your regular activities immediately, although you should follow your doctor’s instructions.
The Rehab Doctors’ team schedules follow-up appointments so they may determine if your treatment is successful. Ultrasound-guided injections are usually part of a multidisciplinary treatment plan for injuries and chronic pain conditions.
Call The Rehab Doctors, or make an appointment online today, for expert physical medicine, including ultrasound-guided injections.
