Joint Pain

What is joint pain?

Joint pain is a general medical term that refers to any discomfort you experience in a joint. The pain may derive from injury or damage to any of the components that make up your joint, which includes bones, ligaments, cartilage, muscle, and tendons.

Though joint pain can affect any joint in your body, the pain experts at Advanced Pain Management specialize in the treatment of joint pain that affects the ankle, elbow, hip, knee, shoulder, and wrist. 

What are common causes of joint pain?

Your joint pain may develop after an injury or from degenerative changes that lead to damage to the structures in your joint. Common causes of joint pain include:

• Strains and sprains
• Arthritis
• Fractures
• Dislocation
• Tendinitis
• Bursitis
• Fibromyalgia
• Nerve entrapment (carpal tunnel syndrome)

You can also develop joint pain from an underlying disease, such as Lyme disease or lupus. 

What are the treatments for joint pain?

Treatment for your joint pain may depend on the joint affected and the underlying cause. The experienced team at Advanced Pain Management takes an integrative approach to care and works closely with you and your primary care physician to develop a treatment plan that alleviates your pain, restores joint mobility, and improves your quality of life.

Initially, the team may suggest conservative treatments for the management of your joint pain, which may include medication management, as well as physical therapy. If conservative measures fail to improve your discomfort, the pain management specialists may suggest an interventional pain procedure. 

Some of the innovative interventional pain procedures utilized for joint pain at Advanced Pain Management include:

Steroid injections

With steroid injections, your pain specialist injects a corticosteroid directly into the joint, where you’re experiencing pain to reduce inflammation and discomfort.

Gel or viscosupplementation treatments

Gel or viscosupplementation treatments are often recommended to those suffering from osteoarthritis, which is a form of arthritis that develops from the wearing away of cartilage between joints. The injection is comprised of hyaluronic acid, which is a thick gel that improves joint lubrication and cushioning to ease your pain.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)

PRP is a form of regenerative medicine that contains a high concentration of platelets, growth factors, and specialized protein, which are the healing properties found in your blood. When injected into your joint, the healing properties reduce inflammation and help heal your diseased or damaged tissue.

The pain specialists at Advanced Pain Management may suggest PRP if your joint pain is due to an injury or arthritis. 

Stem cell therapy

Stem cell therapy is also a form of regenerative medicine that promotes healing in damaged joints. Your stem cells have the potential to transform themselves into specialized cells, such as muscle, tendon, ligaments, or bone. 

The team at Advanced Pain Management offers stem cell therapy to accelerate the healing of joint pain caused by injury or disease.

For evaluation and treatment of your joint pain from an experienced team, contact Advanced Pain Management by phone or online today.