Arthrogram!?

Lankysean

So my orthopedic doctor is sending me to get a MRI and an Arthrogram later this month. I've looked them both up and the MRI seems like a piece of cake but the Arthrogram is starting to freak me out. Seems like anyone who's had one all either say "it hurt like hell" or "I didn't feel a thing". Anyway, as I'm a total medical wuss I'm looking for some advice from anyone who's had one done, especially if you've it done at Westfield imaging in Westfield NJ... thanks

mts

it doesn't hurt that much at all. i had one on my shoulder. it felt weird witht he excess fluid in there, but I wouldn't call it painful. of course i also was walking around with essentially no labrum on the bottom half of the joint for at least a couple years. i actually got nauseous after getting it done, but that might have been bad qdobe.

also if you are allergic to shellfish you might not be able to get it done since its iodine based typically

Maguano

what part you getting done? I had the arthrogram done on my knee. The dye they need to inject is deeper that the Novocain shot can reach, so for a couple seconds while they insert the needle, its nothing, then all of a sudden its like Holy Crap, that freakin hurts, but then the needle comes out and your knee is swollen like a balloon for a couple hours. Nothing painful after the needle. just don't try to sit with your knee bent for a bit.

On the plus side, its pretty cool seeing the bones of your knee move around (if they are nice and have the monitor facing so you can see it),

MRIs are a cakewalk, just need to be able to lie still for a bit, again depending on what part you're having done determines how far you'll need to be in the tube.

Lankysean

Oh, sorry it's for my shoulder. So yeah, the whole "Holy crap that freaking hurts" thing is starting to worry me.

RT800

I tend never to worry about pains that aren't chronic or life-threatening.

I mean, even if it does hurt, it'll stop after they're done.

Plus they'll probably give you anesthetic and some sweet pain meds if you need them.

That said, I've never had an arthrogram so what the hell do I know.

Maguano

AH, then things may be different, but the couple seconds of pain to make the months of chronic pain (eventually) go away totally make it worthwhile.

mts

yea, they should be giving you a shot or two of lidocaine to numb things. then its more the weird pressure of them putting the dye in. so as longas you can deal with injections you have nothng to worry about

Lankysean

mts wrote: »

yea, they should be giving you a shot or two of lidocaine to numb things. then its more the weird pressure of them putting the dye in. so as longas you can deal with injections you have nothng to worry about

I'm generally pretty good with injections, I was just worried about it being such a deep injection that there could be something in there that really sets off some pain receptors. I've had cortizon(sp?) shots into my shoulder in the past and they never hurt all that much.