Question
The doctor I saw for my knee pain has recommended Synvisc injections. When I asked him how painful the injections were, he was very vague. Frankly, I’m petrified. I am assuming that a needle of any size in the knee is going to be much more painful than a normal injection into fatty tissue. What do you patients tell you about the pain of the injections?
Answer
Knee injections can be painful. But the treating physician has options to make them less painful. One is to spray a topical anesthetic over the site of injection. Another is to inject some anesthetic to numb it up. The first is cold and somewhat uncomfortable. The second is uncomfortable because it is a second injection. nonetheless, either one significantly increases the tolerability of the joint injection. These are very common procedures, and it only takes a second or two to inject the knee.
