Peripheral Nerve Blocks Specialist
NovaSpine Pain Institute
Pain Management in Sun City, Sun City West, Glendale and Gilbert, Arizona
Debilitating nerve pain can prevent you from enjoying life and staying active. Fortunately, the pain management specialists at NovaSpine Pain Institute in Sun City West, Sun City, Gilbert, and Glendale, Arizona, offer peripheral nerve blocks and other simple solutions that manage chronic pain and restore the quality of your life. Schedule an appointment today with NovaSpine Pain Institute over the phone or use the online contact form to find out if peripheral nerve blocks are right for you.
Peripheral Nerve Blocks Q & A
What are peripheral nerve blocks?
Peripheral nerve blocks are pain injections containing a local anesthetic your doctor uses to ease pain along your peripheral nerves. These nerves are outside the brain and spinal cord and transmit sensation and motion.
Injecting anti-inflammatory medicine plus anesthetic near targeted nerves promotes the healing of damaged nerves.
What are the types of peripheral nerve blocks?
Your pain management specialist might recommend one or more of the following peripheral nerve blocks, depending on the severity of your condition and where the pain is:
Occipital nerve blocks
Occipital nerves stretch from your neck to the back of your head and scalp. Your doctor injects steroids and a local anesthetic along occipital nerves to ease or eliminate headache pain.
Ilioinguinal nerve blocks
Your ilioinguinal nerve wraps around the rim of your pelvis, running through your groin area. Ilioinguinal nerve blocks help reduce the pain that arises during or after surgery along the ilioinguinal nerve.
What should I expect during the procedure?
Your doctor might ask you to fast 6-8 hours prior to receiving a peripheral nerve block if you opt for sedation, but they let you know this ahead of time. Your pain specialist offers you a mild sedative through an IV to ease anxiety.
Your doctor completes minimally invasive nerve block procedures in an outpatient setting. They use a local anesthetic to numb the area so you don’t feel pain during the nerve block injection.
Your practitioner positions you on your stomach or side and uses fluoroscopic X-rays to guide their access to the injection site. You might feel a slight pinch from the needle.
What happens after a peripheral nerve block?
After the peripheral nerve block injection, you rest in a comfortable recovery area until the medication kicks in. If you choose sedation during the procedure, someone else must drive you home.
Local anesthetic used in the injection results in hours of pain relief. Long-lasting pain relief kicks in about 3-7 days after treatment when the steroid takes effect.
Don’t live with chronic pain when simple, minimally invasive, long-lasting solutions are available at NovaSpine Pain Institute. Schedule an appointment over the phone or use the online contact form.