Blog summary:
- Rheumatoid arthritis is associated with regular flare ups in both pain and swelling; these flare ups can cause significant pain and disability.
- Corticosteroid injections are capable of delivering fast, safe and effective relief from rheumatoid flare ups.
- Ultrasound guided steroid injections are more accurate, less painful, more safe and more effective than non-guided steroid injections.
- Complete injections offer fast and affordable ultrasound guided steroid injection to help you recover as quickly as possible from a rheumatological flare up.
Contact us on Complete on 020 7482 3875 or email injections@complete-physio.co.uk.
Introduction
Rheumatoid arthritis can cause debilitating pain and loss of function which has the ability to severely affect a person’s quality of life. Managing the pain and inflammation associated with these conditions is crucial to improving your quality of life. There are many treatment options available, all of which play valuable roles in controlling and managing rheumatoid arthritis. This blog discusses the role of ultrasound-guided steroid injections for treating acute flare ups of pain and inflammations, often associated with rheumatoid conditions.
Understanding Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases confuse the immune system, resulting in your body attacking its own healthy tissues. Rheumatoid arthritis primarily targets the joints of the extremities such as the hands and wrist, feet and ankles and knees. It is a progressive and debilitating condition, which requires a long term management plan.
Rheumatoid arthritis attacks the synovium (the internal lining of joints). This causes the synovium to become inflamed (known as synovitis) leading to swelling, pain and stiffness, and, if left controlled, damages joints, leading to chronic pain and inflammation.
It’s important for patients with rheumatoid arthritis to be assessed by a rheumatologist who is able to formally diagnose the underlying condition and provide a specific treatment program. Rheumatoid arthritis is diagnosed using a combination of specific blood tests, diagnostic ultrasound imaging as well as clinical assessment.
Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common rheumatoid condition however, there are many other inflammatory conditions, which can respond positively to ultrasound guided steroid injections, including psoriatic arthritis, gout and ankylosing spondylitis.
Treating Rheumatoid Conditions
Rheumatoid arthritis is commonly treated with a combination of medications, including disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These treatments aim to reduce pain and inflammation, slow down the progression of the disease, and improve quality of life and joint function. These can be very effective however, flare ups in pain and swelling still happen. Flare ups require fast and effective treatment. Ultrasound guided steroid injections can be used to manage flare ups.
The Role of Ultrasound-Guided Steroid Injections
Steroid injections have been used for many decades to treat flare ups in pain and swelling associated with many rheumatoid conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis.
Although steroid injections have been an effective treatment option for resolving painful episodes for many years, the development of ultrasound guided steroid injections have significantly increased their efficacy. Ultrasound guided steroid injections offer an incredibly precise way of introducing a powerful anti-inflammatory medication (corticosteroid) directly into the affected joints or soft tissues.
Why choose an ultrasound guided injection?
- Precision: Ultrasound allows your clinical specialist to visualise the inflamed area in real time. Once identified a needle can be accurately used to target the inflamed area. By guiding the medication to the source of your pain ensures you gain the maximum possible benefits.
- Rapid Relief: Ultrasound guided steroid injections offer quick relief from pain and inflammation, improving their quality of life and mobility, often with days following an injection.
- Increased safety and reduced procedural pain: Ultrasound imaging allows the clinician to not only be able to see the target but also other delicate structures in the local area. This ensures that sensitive structures such as nerves and blood vessels are avoided during the injection process. Avoiding delicate structures help reduce post injection complications and pain.
- Reduced systemic side effects: Unlike oral medications that can affect other areas of the body, guided steroid injections minimise the chances of systemic side effects, such as weight gain, mood swings and gastric complications.
How can Complete injections support your rheumatological care plan?
All patients with rheumatological signs and symptoms must have a formal diagnosis from their G.P and be under ongoing assessment and treatment for their condition via their G.P or rheumatology consultant.
Complete physio are happy to give injections provided that this is agreement with their G.P and/or their rheumatologist. Ultrasound guided steroid injections undertaken at Complete injection should be seen as an adjunct to the wider ongoing treatment and management plan.
It is often very difficult to get fast treatment via the NHS and therefore the pain and swelling associated with flare ups often go untreated, resulting in prolonged pain and disability. The advantages of choosing Complete injections is that we have the capacity to treat people rapidly, during a flare up. Complete injections provide a comprehensive clinical letter describing the treatment provided including drug dosages and area injected.
At Complete injections we have a team of highly experienced clinicians, and teach ultrasound guided injection techniques across the UK, Europe and worldwide and are experienced in assessing and treating rheumatoid flare ups.
It must be noted that Complete injections cannot provide high dose intramuscular or systemic steroid injections. These can only be accessed directly through your treating rheumatologist and/or GP
To book an appointment contact us on Complete on 020 7482 3875 or email injections@complete-physio.co.uk.