Face to face with pain Dr

[Melusine]

I know this is UK & Euro thread but it applies everywhere.....


Pain clinics are easy for your GP to send you to.

That way they do not have to deal with the 'over prescribing' of pain medication.

The GP lets the pain clinic deal with it.

Having said that- I know people who have had great success at the pain clinic----------

……………………………………..your mileage may vary of course...…………………………...Folken

That's a good suggestion, folken, and one I will research locally.  I went to an orthopedic specialist just yesterday for ongoing, severe knee/leg pain.  He did all the usual things: steroids and anti-inflammatories, which I sure hope will work.  I'm skeptical, at best.  He stated he would not prescribe anything stronger.  So if this doesn't work out, I'll follow your suggestion.

Knee pain, hip pain, ankle pain... we can suffer a whole life, even without arthritis. I have had so many accidents as a youth, that I'm still paying in pain for the bill.  

Solutions?

• Yes, cortisone injections provide temporary relief, for a few weeks at the most. BUT: be aware that cortisone will make your ligaments softer and worsen your problem over time. No more than 2 infiltrations per year.
  
• Advice: make sure the joint in which you will get the infiltration is not overly swollen with inflammation: first, the injection will be extremely painful, and second, the liquid cortisone will be dispersed around the joint, because there will be already too much liquid, and the treatment might prove not to be effective at all.
  

How can one manage to reduce the inflammation in a painful knee/hip/shoulder/etc before a cortisone infiltration?

1. Make sure you use that joint as little as possible for 48 hours.
   
2. Take Advil / Ibuprofen  or Aspirin, or any other anti-inflammatory drug if you have a prescription.(not Tylenol / acetaminophen). I find that Advil works even better than my prescribed Naproxen. Naproxen is also available OTC in some countries. Take the full dose during those 48 hours and an extra one about 20 minutes before your injection.
   
3. Drink a lot, and I mean A LOT, of liquid 24 hours before the infiltration. Ideally, use a diuretic tea, such as cherry stem, or capsules of extract of cherry stems. It works really well to flush your body of excess liquid.
   
4. Try to get a good night sleep before the injection. It does wonders to reduce inflammation. (I know; easier said than done. )
   
5. Ice packs on the inflamed joint. No more than 10 minutes at a time, but if at all possible, more than once on the day you will receive your injection.
   
6. If you can avoid taking public transportation or even driving yourself to your doctor's office or hospital, you would also ease a lot of the strain on the joint to be infiltrated.
   

How to make the most of those cortisone infiltrations?

1. If you were injected in the lower back, the hip, the knee(s) or ankle(s), keep a wheelchair close to your doctor's office, if the procedure is to be done in an hospital environment, where there is a lot of walking involved. The less you use that joint for 24 to 36 hours after being injected with cortisone, the more efficient and durable it will be.
   
2. For the same reason, have someone drive you home or take a taxi if it is convenient.
   
3. Make sure that your meals are prepared in advance, you housework done, your shopping completed, etc. so as not to impose any effort that could have been avoided on the treated joint.
   
4. By the way, if your were injected in your hands and fingers, stay away from the computer or any mouse pad for at least 24 hrs.
   

You will tell me that I'm prescribing almost a full week's vacation. As if anyone could afford that time.   No, I'm just giving you pointers that are sure to help, even if you can't stay off your knees or stop working for three days.

Now, this post is already very long and I have plenty more to say on the subject of joint pain. I'll get back lsoon with a new breathtaking episode of Melusine's Magic.