Is Therapeutic Nerve Block A Pain Treatment for You? 7 “Need to Knows”
Maybe your pain medication isn’t working anymore. Maybe you got tired of the side effects and stopped taking it. Or maybe you don’t want to take pain meds at all.
Whatever the case, you need pain relief ASAP. A therapeutic nerve block may be the answer.
Here are 7 things to know about therapeutic nerve blocks:
1. What they are.
A pain-relief and healing therapy doctors employ as an alternative to pain medication. Therapeutic nerve blockers provide extended pain relief and assist the body’s healing process by reducing nerve irritation.
2. What areas of the body they can treat:
- head: forehead, face, eyelids, scalp, upper jaw
- neck (all of the neck)
- back: middle back, lower back, upper back, pelvis
- arms: shoulders, armpits, arms, elbows, wrists
- hands (all of the hands)
3. What types of pain do therapeutic nerve blocks treat?
Arthritis pain or pain from injury:
Steroid injections with local anesthetic into the facet joints or vertebrae to help treat joint pain.
Childbirth, neck, back, or leg pain:
Steroid or other medication and local anesthetic injected into the epidural area are known as ‘epidurals.’ These injections are often used during labor to ease the pain of childbirth. They are also used to treat severe nerve pain in the neck, back, and legs.
For buttocks, lower back, and upper leg pain:
Steroid and local anesthetic injections into the sacroiliac joint, the area between the pelvic bones in the lower back.
For arthritis pain in the shoulder:
Steroid and anesthetic injections in the suprascapular area of the shoulder. They treat arthritis pain in the shoulder that isn’t treatable with direct, in-joint injections.
For chronic headaches:
Steroid and local anesthetic injections into the occipital nerves in the back of the head to relieve headaches and other types of nerve pain.
4. How long they relieve pain.
The pain relief from nerve block injections typically lasts from 1 to 2 weeks.
Doctors may recommend several or more injections when you face an extended recovery time from injury or need to buy time while looking for a permanent pain management solution.
5. What the procedure is like.
Nerve block procedures are performed on an outpatient basis and should take less than 30 minutes.
An anesthetic and anti-inflammatory or steroid are injected near the nerves sending pain signals to the brain.
Pain Management in Texas
At Texas Pain Physicians, our board-certified pain management doctors will address your pain at the source. They will map out a unique pain treatment strategy for you.
Please call us today at (972) 636-5727 or click here to schedule an appointment.
