What is it?
A muscle injection is a procedure used to treat painful areas of muscle that contain knots of muscle that form when muscles do not relax. The health care provider will insert a small needle into the muscle and inject local anesthetic and sometimes a corticosteroid.
What are the expected results?
With the injection, the muscle will relax and the pain is alleviated. Usually, a brief course of treatment will result in sustained relief. Several sites may be injected in one visit. If a patient has an allergy to a certain medication, a dry-needle technique (involving no medication) can be used.
How long will it take?
The procedure itself only takes 5-10 minutes, but you may be observed for 30-60 minutes after the procedure.
After the procedure
Most often you can go home in about 30-60 minutes. Written instructions will be sent home with you. You will need someone to drive you home and care for you for the first few hours after the procedure.
What to expect the day of your procedure
You are expected to arrive at the surgery center at least one hour before your procedure is scheduled. Bring a responsible adult driver with you because you may be receiving medications that could impair your ability to drive. Unless you are certain you will not be receiving sedation, do not eat anything for 6 hours prior to your procedure; you may have modest amounts of clear liquids (liquids you can see through) up to 4 hours beforehand. Please take your regularly scheduled blood pressure and heart medications with a sip of water as you normally would. If you have diabetes, take half of your normal dosage and bring your insulin with you.
After you arrive, you will be asked to sign-in and complete any paperwork as needed. You will then be taken to the preoperative area. At this time, a nurse will ask you some medical questions and have you sign your consent forms. It is imperative that you, the patient, inform the assistant of any changes in your history and/or physical, such as recent flu or any health problems that might affect your procedure. Inform the staff of any allergies, especially to Betadine or Iodine.
You will be asked to change into a gown. An assistant will take your blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, and oxygen saturation.
The anesthesiologist, physician, or nurse will talk to you before your procedure. You will then be positioned and the injection site will be cleaned. The pain management physician will perform the procedure. Afterward, the cleaning solution will be washed off and bandages will be applied as needed.
You will be transported to the recovery room area where you will be monitored anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. Lastly, your caregiver will be given discharge instructions for your care at home.