What could be causing my joint pain?
Joint pain is a common problem with three main forms:
Acute joint pain
Acute pain strikes suddenly when you injure yourself. Sprains (stretched or torn ligaments) and strains (damaged tendons) are common acute joint injuries. The cartilage in your joints can also tear — the labrum (a ring of cartilage that secures ball-and-socket joints) in the shoulders and hips, and the meniscus cartilage in the knees often suffer acute injuries.
Overuse
Repetitive strain, where you frequently make the same movements over long periods, can result in overuse injuries. These typically affect your joints’ tendons and bursae (fluid-filled cushioning sacs). Both tendinitis and bursitis develop when overuse irritates the tissues, causing gradually worsening inflammation and joint pain.
Chronic diseases
Chronic joint pain’s primary cause is arthritis. This disease has multiple forms, but the most common is osteoarthritis, which develops after decades of joint wear-and-tear. An immune system malfunction causes rheumatoid arthritis, while a buildup of uric acid crystals (most often in the big toe joints) causes gout.
Osteoarthritis pain is aching and throbbing, often causing swollen joints. The affected joints become increasingly stiff and weak and may start to twist. Pain typically flares up during cold, wet weather, when you’re feeling stressed, or if you do any unusual activities.
How does my doctor diagnose joint pain?
Joint pain diagnosis begins with a physical exam where your provider looks for abnormalities, painful areas, and loss of function. They also analyze your medical history and ask about your symptoms.
Sometimes, patients need X-rays or other diagnostic imaging procedures. These help your provider assess the joint’s interior structures, confirm the diagnosis, and determine the condition’s severity
What treatments do I need for joint pain?
Acute injuries typically require rest, the regular use of ice packs, and a supportive bandage or brace. Anti-inflammatory medication helps to control pain and inflammation while the joint heals. With overuse injuries, you must also avoid the actions causing tissue irritation.
If you have rheumatoid or other autoimmune forms of arthritis, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) help to ease pain and slow symptom progression. Joint pain can also benefit from physical therapy and steroid injections into the joint.
If these treatments don’t control joint pain, advanced options include radiofrequency ablation, ketamine infusions, and peripheral nerve stimulation.
Radiofrequency ablation uses electrical energy to heat and destroy pain nerves. Dr. Buyanov and his team use image-guided radiofrequency ablation to treat persistent, severe pain. You could benefit from this treatment when other therapies fail to reduce back, neck, knee, shoulder, or hip pain.
What is radiofrequency ablation?
Radiofrequency ablation treats chronic pain using mild electrical currents that disrupt communication between your nerves and brain.
Your provider uses the electrical current to heat targeted nerve tissue to a specific temperature. Heat damages the nerves, so they no longer transmit pain signals to your brain. Studies show that most patients experience pain relief or a degree of reduction after radiofrequency ablation.
The procedure is minimally invasive, so you can go home the same day
Your provider uses the electrical current to heat targeted nerve tissue to a specific temperature. Heat damages the nerves, so they no longer transmit pain signals to your brain. Studies show that most patients experience pain relief or a degree of reduction after radiofrequency ablation.
The procedure is minimally invasive, so you can go home the same day
Who benefits from radiofrequency ablation?
Radiofrequency ablation is a long-lasting solution to chronic pain in patients whose condition fails to improve with noninvasive treatments. It’s suitable for spinal disorders and joint pain in the knees, hips, and shoulders.
For most chronic pain patients, conservative approaches such as medication, activity modification, and physical therapy are adequate. However, some people don’t improve, or those with incurable conditions find treatment less successful as their condition worsens.
Joint and epidural steroid injections and ketamine infusions frequently help with persistent pain, but if they don’t, radiofrequency ablation is a likely next step. To ensure it will be effective, the team gives you a nerve block injection to see if it successfully numbs your pain
What happens during my radiofrequency ablation session?
Before radiofrequency ablation begins, your provider gives you a sedative through an intravenous (IV) line in your arm.
You lie on your back or stomach, and your provider injects anesthetic into your skin to numb the treatment site. Then, they insert a thin needle using fluoroscopy (moving X-ray) or ultrasound imaging. This technique ensures your provider can see precisely where the needle is and guide it into position.
Next, they insert a microelectrode and ask if you can feel a tingling sensation. Your guidance helps them identify the ideal place to administer radiofrequency ablation. Your provider then transmits radiofrequency energy currents through the electrode, destroying the nerve tissue
How long do radiofrequency ablation results last?
Radiofrequency ablation effects typically last 6-12 months; some patients experience pain reduction long after this.
The treated nerves can grow back in time. If they do, you might find your pain isn’t as bad as before, but if your condition worsens significantly, you can undergo radiofrequency ablation again.