Sacroiliac Joint Injections in Athens, Georgia
Do you feel persistent pain in your lower back or buttocks? Does your pain worsen for long periods, climbing stairs, running, or bearing more weight on one leg? When we experience this type of lower back pain, we tend to assume it’s due to a spinal problem. However, the cause could be a little lower down, in the sacroiliac joints. Often, sacroiliac joint injections are the best treatment for reducing inflammation and relieving pain. Problems like joint pain, inflammation, degeneration, or dysfunction, can also cause pain in the lower back, buttocks, hips, or legs. As a result, the pain can become chronic and debilitating, affecting your quality of life and ability to perform your daily activities.
Understanding the Sacroiliac Joint
As its name suggests, the sacroiliac joint is located between the sacrum, which supports the spine, and the iliac bones of the pelvis. This joint has the function of distributing body weight between the spine and the lower limbs, as well as providing support for a number of muscles that enable stability and walking (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, piriformis, latissimus dorsi, erector spinae, etc.)
What Can Cause Persistent Joint Pain?
Pain in the sacroiliac joint can have various causes, including:
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How Can You Recognize a Problem in the Sacroiliac Joint?
The most common symptom is pain in the lower back, hips, and buttocks, accompanied by stiffness in the lumbar region. The pain can radiate down to the legs, similar to what occurs nerve compression, such as in a herniated lumbar disc.
The pain can occur even at rest, usually at night, and worsens when staying in the same position for a long time, when running, going up or down stairs, carrying weight, and during general physical activity.
How Do Sacroiliac Joint Injections Help Relieve Pain?
The sacroiliac joint injections involve administering corticosteroid and local anesthetics, which provide pain relief. This is because corticosteroids are powerful anti-inflammatory that help reduce inflammation and, consequently, the pain associated with this condition. In addition to relieving pain, corticosteroids can promote healing and repair of damaged tissue in the sacroiliac joint, contributing to long-term pain relief.
Local anesthetics, on the other hand, temporarily block pain signals transmitted by the nerves of the sacroiliac joint, providing immediate relief from this discomfort and potentially modulating pain perception by reducing nociceptive stimuli sent to the brain, which more effectively activates the pain-inhibiting system.
What to Expect from the Sacroiliac Joint Injections Procedure
Before the Procedure
- Fast for 8 hours before the injection.
- Stop taking all medications before the injection.
- If you take regular medications for heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes, you may take them as usual on the morning of the injection, with a sip of water.
During
- Procedure time is approximately 30 minutes.
- The skin at the injection site will be disinfected.
- A local anesthetic will numb the area.
- Fluoroscopy (an imaging technique) will be used to guide the needle.
- A mixture of anesthetic and a corticosteroid will be injected.
After the Procedure
- It is important that someone takes you home.
- You will remain in the recovery room for about 30 minutes
- It is normal to feel more pain once the effect of the anesthetic wears off.
- The corticosteroid takes 24 to 36 hours to take effect.
- Physical activity should be restricted for the first 4-5 days after the injection.
Find the Solution to Joint Pain in Athens, Georgia
At Arch Orthopedic & Spine, our team of specialists diagnoses and treats the most common causes of joint pain. If you are experiencing persistent pain in your lower back or buttocks, call us or book a personalized appointment online today.
If you would like more information about our approach to sciatica, call Arch Orthopedic & Spine or book a personalized appointment online today.