In most cases, injection therapy is an outpatient procedure, performed in a physician's office or in a hospital, using a local anesthetic.

Depending on the area to be treated, patients may lie on an x-ray table or may recline or sit in a manner that allows the muscles to be relaxed. A fluoroscopic x-ray may be used to help the physician guide the needle to the right spot. The injection site is cleaned and sterilized and the local anesthetic is administered to numb the skin. A contrast medium is injected into the injection area to highlight the region on an x-ray. Using the x-ray, the physician can be sure of guiding the needle into the proper part of the body.

Before administering the therapeutic injection, the physician may administer a diagnostic injection. A small amount of an anesthetic medication is injected into the area suspected of causing the pain to see how the patient's symptoms react to the injection. If the patient reports a reduction in pain after this limited injection, it likely indicates that the physician has located the proper injection site. A therapeutic injection of anesthetic and analgesic medications will then follow.

This process may be repeated several times if more than one area of the body requires treatment. Following the procedure, patients may be asked to perform a task that normally causes them to feel pain in the area that has just been treated.

Once the anesthetic wears off, patients may experience a return of their pain until the medication begins to work. This can take anywhere from a few days to a week or longer. Most patients are able to return to their normal activities almost immediately following the procedure.

Patients who have injections such as epidural blocks or viscosupplementation may be required to return for follow-up injections over a period of a few weeks.

Injection therapy is usually considered as only one step toward long-term pain management. Patients typically are urged to participate in a follow-up program of physical therapy, exercise, weight loss and other steps that can increase the odds of managing the pain permanently.