If you’ve failed to find relief from your shoulder discomfort on your own, but your doctor isn’t yet ready to pursue surgery, you may be an ideal candidate for a shoulder injection. Shoulder injections involve administering a solution that is part steroid and part numbing medication to a specific location inside your body. This injection helps to resolve inflammation and provide short-term pain relief, so it can be great for a variety of ailments.
With that said, it’s typically not a great stand alone option because it doesn’t solve the root issue on its own. For example, while it may help to resolve painful inflammation, the injection will not address the underlying mechanical issue or joint problem that is causing inflammation to develop in the first place. So how effective are these injections when it comes to shoulder pain relief? In today’s blog, we explore the effectiveness of shoulder injections and share some tips for getting the most out of these injections.
Increasing The Effectiveness Of Your Shoulder Injection
Shoulder injections may be recommended to help treat a variety of shoulder conditions. If you’re struggling to find relief from an issue like osteoarthritis, frozen shoulder, bursitis, rotator cuff inflammation or a soft tissue tear, an injection could be a great complementary treatment. However, the effectiveness of the medication will fade over time, so you need to pursue some proactive treatment while the injection is providing relief to target the root issue in your shoulder.
In order to maximize the effectiveness of your shoulder injection, your shoulder specialist will likely recommend a combination of the following conservative treatments:
- Physical Therapy – It is incredibly rare for a shoulder injection to be administered without an additional recommendation for physical therapy. Physical therapy is typically a very standard course of treatment because strengthening and stabilizing different structures in the shoulder region can oftentimes help the shoulder better manage stress from normal actions. When your shoulder is stronger and more stable, it’s less likely that normal actions cause discomfort. The problem for many people dealing with shoulder pain is that their discomfort is so great that it makes it hard for them to pursue PT exercises to their full potential. Pain and inflammation make them retreat away from these exercises, which only ends up exacerbating the problem. If we add an injection to the equation, we can provide patients with an extra dose of discomfort relief. This short-term pain relief makes it easier for them to pursue physical therapy and achieve the benefits of these exercises without being inhibited by pain. To get the most out of your shoulder injection, you absolutely need to take advantage of this pain relief and pursue physical therapy exercises that improve your strength, stability and range of motion.
- Stretching – Aside from specific physical therapy exercises, it’s also typically helpful to stretch your shoulders a few times each day and to work to expand your comfortable range of motion. Odds are you’ll have a little more flexibility in your shoulder following the pain relieving injection, so work to make this motion comfortable even as the effectiveness of the injection begins to fade. Simply resting your shoulder after an injection won’t help to restore this flexibility and function, so pursue some less structured stretching exercises in the weeks that follow your injection.
- Diet – Now is also a good time to nourish your body with a healthy influx of vitamins and minerals. These nutrients are essential for tissue repair and other processes that may be occurring more steadily as a result of the resolved inflammation. Give your body the nutrients it needs to fuel recovery processes while the injection is providing pain and inflammation relief.
- Mind Your Restrictions – Finally, make sure that you still pay attention to any restrictions that your doctor has put in place following the injection. We hope that you’re amazed by the relief you’re experiencing, but that doesn’t mean you should go back to any and all physical activities. We expect that you’ll be able to get back to a point without restrictions, but you’re not there yet, so stay in line with your physical restrictions and gradually work to strengthen your shoulder with recommended activities so that you can move closer to your recovery goals. Taking on too much activity too soon after an injection can lead to a setback or further shoulder damage. If you have questions or concerns about your restrictions, please don’t hesitate to talk with your treating physician.
An injection can be a wonderful treatment option when the patient understands that they’ll also need to put in some effort on their end, and we’d be happy to talk with you in greater detail about our shoulder injection process. For more information about any part of the treatment process, or to talk to a shoulder specialist about an issue you’re dealing with, reach out to Dr. Holloway’s office today at (865) 410-7887.
