Decision guide · Updated October 6, 2026
Confirm the procedure
Write down the name, target, side, medicine, image guidance, and purpose of the proposed injection. Ask whether it is meant to test a diagnosis, provide symptom relief, or both. Tell the team if the consent form describes a different site than expected.
The preparation sheet should name your procedure and your own medical considerations. Generic advice found online cannot resolve a medicine or sedation question for an individual.
Review health and medicines
Provide an accurate list of prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, supplements, allergies, diabetes treatment, prior reactions, pregnancy possibility, and active infections. Ask the clinical team—not a web page—whether any medicine needs adjustment and who should authorize it.
Do not stop an anticoagulant or diabetes medicine because of a generic article. The procedural team and the prescribing clinician need to coordinate any change. Ask when the instruction will be confirmed and whom to call if it conflicts with your usual plan.
Arrange the day
Clarify eating and drinking rules, whether sedation is planned, whether a driver is required, and what activity is allowed afterward. Ask for written warning signs and a contact number before leaving the procedure site.
Save the discharge sheet and write down when any local anesthetic or steroid effect is expected to be assessed. If the procedure is diagnostic, arrange a realistic activity during the observation window, then report the result without intentionally provoking severe pain.
Questions to ask
- Which exact injection and medicine are planned?
- Who decides whether any of my medicines should change?
- Do I need a driver, and which symptoms require urgent attention?