May is Arthritis Awareness Month—a perfect time to take action against chronic joint pain. Arthritis can make it difficult to work, stay active, or enjoy everyday life—but you don’t have to live in constant discomfort. Today, advanced, non-surgical treatments can help you move with less pain and more freedom. Below are the top injection therapies used to manage arthritis pain effectively.
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Injections: Natural Healing Power
PRP injections use your body’s own healing components to reduce inflammation and stimulate tissue regeneration. By concentrating platelets from a small amount of your blood, PRP delivers powerful growth factors directly into the arthritic joint. Many patients report long-term pain relief and improved joint function, especially for early to moderate osteoarthritis in the knees, hips, and shoulders.
Corticosteroid Injections: Fast-Acting Pain Relief
Steroid injections are among the most commonly used treatments for arthritis pain. These injections deliver a potent anti-inflammatory medication directly into the joint, reducing swelling and pain within days. While not a long-term solution, corticosteroids can provide significant short-term relief during flare-ups or when other treatments aren’t effective.
Hyaluronic Acid Injections: Joint Lubrication and Shock Absorption
Also known as viscosupplementation, hyaluronic acid injections are ideal for patients with knee osteoarthritis. This gel-like substance helps lubricate the joint, reducing friction and pain during movement. It’s especially helpful when the natural joint fluid has thinned due to arthritis.
Relief for Spinal Arthritis
Unlike peripheral joints, the spine is composed of multiple joints working together. The arthritis changes depending on how the function of the spine is affected. Thus the procedures used become more complex. Simple injections like epidural steroids to more advanced injections such as facet joint radio-frequency ablations are used to treat the pain
Genicular Nerve Blocks: Targeted Knee Pain Relief
For chronic knee arthritis pain that doesn’t respond to other treatments, genicular nerve blocks can be a game changer. These injections target the sensory nerves around the knee joint, disrupting pain signals and providing immediate relief. In some cases, they can be followed by radiofrequency ablation for longer-lasting results.
Managing arthritis pain doesn’t have to be a constant struggle. Injections like corticosteroids, PRP, hyaluronic acid, and epidurals offer powerful, localized relief. Consult a pain management specialist to determine the best treatment for your specific type of arthritis and pain level.
AUTHOR: Dr. Vinay C. Belamkar is the founder of Apollo Pain Center in Indianapolis with over a decade of experience exclusively in comprehensive pain care and fellowship in Interventional Pain Management, Anesthesia, and Internal Medicine, with a fellowship in spinal surgery.
