Florida Spine & Pain Management Institute

Nerve Blocks

Nerve blocks can be used to manage chronic, or long-term, pain, pain after surgery, severe acute, or short-term, pain. Nerve blocks ease pain by offering immediate relief. They can also offer longer-term relief, because some injections reduce irritation to the nerves and let them heal.

Nerve blocks can help people who have chronic pain function better in their daily lives, allowing them to go to work, exercise, and do daily tasks.

Temporary nerve blocks are often a short-term fix. The pain may return within as little as a few hours after the drugs wear off. Some people may need repeated or even long-term nerve block treatments to manage inflammation and pain.

NERVE BLOCKS

Selective nerve root blocks deliver long-lasting corticosteroids right to the root of a nerve as it exits the spinal column. Nerve blocks prevent pain signals from traveling along specific nerves (hence the term “selective”).

PERIPHERAL NERVE STIMULATOR

Peripheral nerve stimulation targets the nerveS that transmit pain signals to your brain. PNS involves a tiny implant—a wire about the thickness of a human hair or a group of electrodes about the size of a standard paperclip—that delivers electrical impulses, similar to a pacemaker, to the nerve. It works by changing the way your brain perceives pain. The electrical pulses interrupt or change the pain signals sent from the nerve to the brain.

SPINAL CORD STIMULATOR

Clinically proven to provide drug-free pain relief without discomfort, spinal cord stimulation blocks painful nerve signals with a controlled electrical current.

Spinal cord stimulation is an FDA-approved, minimally invasive procedure that requires the implantation of a nerve stimulation device. This treatment delivers low-voltage electrical currents to areas of the spine, ultimately reducing pain signals caused by chronic pain. Patients living with chronic back or leg pain, who have not responded to conservative treatments for at least six months, may be considered candidates for this procedure. A trial device is usually implanted before a permanent device can be considered.