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Understanding Peripheral Nerve Blocks for Acute and Chronic Pain Relief

Jan 18, 2024

Peripheral Nerve Blocks

Understanding Peripheral Nerve Blocks for Acute and Chronic Pain ReliefUnderstanding Peripheral Nerve Blocks for Acute and Chronic Pain Relief

Living with acute or chronic nerve pain not only impairs your health and wellness but also affects your overall quality of life. It reduces your ability to perform daily activities, resulting in depression and isolation. Also, it prevents you from taking part in social gatherings and events due to fear of worsening the condition, ultimately leading to emotional instability. Nevertheless, you don’t need to worry about your pain negatively impacting your physical and mental well-being. You can get a peripheral nerve block injection to experience prompt pain relief.

Let us discuss peripheral nerve block more, covering how it will work to improve your nerve pain and its benefits and risks. 

What Is a Peripheral Nerve Block?

To relieve pain, a peripheral nerve block involves injecting a local anesthetic and steroid into the pain-causing specific nerve or group of nerves.

How Does a Peripheral Nerve Block Work?

A small dose of local anesthesia is injected into the affected nerves during a peripheral nerve block. Once injected, this medication interrupts the transmission of pain signals, providing prolonged relief from pain. Along with local anesthesia, steroids can be injected to reduce swelling and inflammation around the nerve. Instead of general anesthesia, peripheral nerve blocks can be used to induce a feeling of numbness or loss of sensation during surgery and to ease pain post-surgery.

What Are the Types of Peripheral nerve blocks?

Peripheral nerve blocks are classified into two types depending on the purpose of their usage, including:

Surgical Nerve Blocks

They are used to numb the area before a surgical procedure, and their types include:

  • Rhizotomy – It involves destroying the nerve roots extending from the spine.
  • Sympathetic Blockade – It blocks pain originating from the sympathetic nervous system in one area.
  • Neurectomy – It involves surgically destroying the damaged peripheral nerve.

Non-Surgical Nerve Blocks

They are used for acute and chronic pain relief, and their types include:

  • Peripheral Nerve Blockade - It involves injecting medication into the nerve that causes pain.
  • Spinal Analgesia or Anesthesia – It is administered in the spinal cord fluid.
  • Epidural Analgesia or Anesthesia – It is injected outside the spinal cord.

See Also: What is Causing Your Knee Pain?

What Happens During Peripheral nerve blocks?

During the peripheral nerve blocks, you will typically receive sedation or anesthesia to minimize discomfort during the procedure. Then, you will be positioned appropriately for the injection based on the location of the targeted nerve. Your healthcare provider may use fluoroscopy or ultrasound to place the needle properly. Once the correct position is detected, they will inject the medication and remove the needle. Sometimes, your provider may inject a small tube (catheter) via the needle and leave it intact to inject more anesthesia as required during the surgery.

Peripheral Nerve Block Benefits

Nerve blocks offer substantial benefits, including:

  • Minimally invasive pain treatment; no incisions or sutures are needed
  • Effectively relieves acute and chronic pain and pain post-surgery
  • Reduces nerve irritation, expediting healing
  • Enhance your functionality and flexibility, enabling you to easily perform daily activities.
  • Reduces swelling and inflammation
  • Provides targeted pain relief
  • Minimizes dependence on opioids for pain management or relief

Risks of Peripheral nerve blocks

While generally considered safe, peripheral nerve blocks cause some potential side effects, including:

  • Bleeding
  • Infection

Rarely, medication may spill into other areas accidentally, causing adverse reactions.

See Also: Low Back Pain: Causes & Treatments

Final Thoughts

Peripheral nerve blocks have emerged as an effective pain management strategy due to their minimally invasive nature and numerous advantages. They offer targeted pain relief with minimal side effects by injecting local anesthetics or other medications directly into specific nerves. Not just acute and chronic nerve pain, peripheral nerve blocks can effectively reduce arthritis pain, lower back pain, cancer-related pain, headaches, and pain after surgery. So, if you are looking to manage your pain thresholds effectively, consider peripheral nerve block treatment in Coppell, TX.

Apex Interventional Pain & Spine – A Trusted Place for All Your Peripheral Nerve Block Needs in Coppell, Texas

If you are suffering from chronic pain and seeking the best possible relief, Apex Interventional Pain & Spine is where you should go. We offer peripheral nerve blocks to treat chronic pains resulting from occipital neuralgia, migraines, trigeminal neuralgia, arthritis, chronic regional pain syndrome, etc.

We have highly trained specialists who can perform these procedures and deliver the desired results. We use state-of-the-art technology and techniques to ensure patient safety and satisfaction. Contact us today or book an appointment to get rid of the pain and feel better soon. You can also call us at 972-833-7256 to learn more about our pain management treatments.

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