Shoulder infiltration
What is it?
What is it?
- An infiltration consists of applying a medication to a specific region of the body. In the shoulder, infiltrations are generally directed to the subacromial region (above the head of the humerus), the glenohumeral joint (shoulder) or the long portion of the biceps.
When is it used?
When is it used?
- In shoulder inflammation, tendonitis, bursitis and shoulder osteoarthritis, especially in the absence of response to other types of treatments.
- It can also be used as a diagnostic test in certain pathologies to confirm that the patient’s pain comes from that same injury.
What kind of medicines are used?
What kind of medicines are used?
- Corticosteroids | Corticosteroids are the most commonly used medications for infiltration. They are powerful anti-inflammatories and, therefore, generally allow for effective reduction of inflammation and pain. Infiltration should not be used as an isolated treatment, but rather as part of a patient’s overall treatment plan, namely through physical rehabilitation and postural reeducation.
- Anesthetics | They are used in combination with corticosteroids for pain relief during infiltration or alone as a diagnostic test when there is doubt about the origin of the pain felt by the patient.
- Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) | Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) is composed of growth factors obtained by centrifuging the patient’s own blood and infiltrating the diseased tendon. The infiltration of these growth factors aims to regenerate the diseased tendon and has proven effective in several scientific studies. It may be necessary to perform more than one infiltration.