What MS Treatment is Right for Me?

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While there is no cure for multiple sclerosis, significant advances have been made over the past decade to understand the disease better and develop more effective multiple sclerosis treatments. Today, people with multiple sclerosis do have choices, including the options of injectable therapy and infusion therapy.

Injectable Treatments For Multiple Sclerosis

There are several injectable therapies designed to treat the underlying course of multiple sclerosis (MS). While these MS treatments are all given by injection, they are not the same types of injections.

Subcutaneous, or under-the-skin injections, use a needle to deliver medications into tissue just under the skin.

Intramuscular (IM) injection is given directly into the muscle tissue of the body, such as the thigh or upper arm. People taking IM injections may have fewer injection site reactions than those who inject under the skin.

A common myth about IM injections is that they will be more painful because they require a longer needle. However, the pain of injections mostly comes from piercing the top layers of your skin, where pain receptors are located. So your level of pain should be similar whether the injection is under the skin or into the muscle.

How Often Do You Need Injections?

Currently available subcutaneous MS treatments require three or more injections a week; current intramuscular MS therapies require one injection per week. Staying on therapy is important for managing your multiple sclerosis. So you'll want to find a treatment that's convenient for you. MS treatments that need to be given less frequently may be easiest to continue over time. Infusion therapies have different schedules than injectable therapies.

Infusion Treatment

Some multiple sclerosis (MS) medications are infusion treatments. This means that the medication is a liquid that is administered directly into the bloodstream. Infusion treatments enter the bloodstream through a vein in the arm.

There are a variety of places infusion treatments are administered. They can be given in a hospital, an infusion center, or a specially equipped doctor's office. While the schedule and timing of the infusion vary with each medication, the procedure remains the same: your temperature and vital signs are checked, an IV needle is inserted, and the infusion begins. Vital signs are checked again after the infusion is complete.

It is important to remember that all medications have side effects and risks. Prior to starting any MS therapy, you should talk to your doctor to decide if it is right for you.


	I still have difficulties self-injecting. Over time, many MS patients get used to giving themselves injections and see them as "just part of my therapy." However, for some, self-injection remains a burden.


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