Joint pain treatment (joint injections) at Spire Murrayfield Hospital Wirral

At Spire Murrayfield Hospital, Wirral we take pride in providing excellent private hospital care to our patients across Merseyside and beyond. Our orthopaedic consultants perform joint injections to help relieve chronic pain and stiffness.

We offer fast access to diagnostic tests and scans, so you don’t have to wait long to find out if treatment is right for you.

Finding us

We’re situated close to the M53, and you can also reach us by taking the train to Birkenhead Hamilton Square station, which is a 15 minute taxi ride away. We have free on-site parking for you and your visitors.

What to expect during your consultation

On the day of your consultation, you’ll meet one of our healthcare professionals in one of our 13 accessible consultation rooms so there’s no need to be concerned if your joint pain restricts your mobility.

At your consultation, we may:

• Ask about your medical history
• Check your blood pressure and blood sugar to make sure the hydrocortisone injection is suitable for you
• Explain about the procedure, anaesthetic and any potential risks and complications and how they may affect you
• Give you a chance to ask any questions you have about your treatment

We may also recommend further tests and scans, such as an X-ray, an MRI or a CT scan, so we can examine your joint in more detail.

Joint injections can help reduce knee pain, shoulder pain and hip pain, and particularly pain due to osteoarthritis.

Here’s what will happen on the day of your joint injection:

• You’ll meet your healthcare team
• If agreed with your consultant beforehand, you’ll be given a sedative so you feel calm
• Your consultant will feel and flex your joint and may draw out fluid with a needle if necessary
• Your consultant will insert a thin needle into your joint to inject the steroid, which may be mixed with a local anaesthetic to numb the area
• Your consultant may use an X-ray machine positioned over your joint as a guide for the injection
• They may make more than one injection, if appropriate

Your joint injection can take place in either a clinic room as an outpatient or in theatre if you need to have your injection done under X-ray control. If so, you'll go back to a bedroom or day-case ward to recover until you're ready to go home.

In some cases, our consultants use special platelet-rich plasma injections. The plasma is taken from your own blood, and when injected into your joint, it promotes cartilage repair and relieves pain and stiffness due to osteoarthritis.

Your healthcare team will provide you with any advice and information on how to manage any pain due to the injection.

The first few days

Following your joint procedure, you’ll need someone to stay with you for the first 24 hours. It can take up to 48 hours for the steroid to take effect, so you should rest your joint for the first few days. Your consultant will inform you about over-the-counter painkillers to relieve any existing pain or discomfort. After the 48-hour period you should keep your joint active and do the exercises provided by our physiotherapists.

Although everybody’s different and you should always follow your consultant’s advice, here’s a typical recovery timeline for joint injections: