Nerve Pain Blocks

Some patients present with chronic back or neck pain caused by a damaged or degenerative facet joint. Facet joint pain is typically reproducible on physical exam and during various diagnostic maneuvers.

Facet pain may be caused by arthritis, mechanical stress or trauma due to an accident or injury. A cervical (neck), thoracic (upper back) or lumbar (lower back) facet block is a diagnostic procedure used to determine if the facet is causing the patient’s pain.

Although not intended to be therapeutic, a facet block may relieve a patient’s pain for weeks to months. More commonly, pain will return within hours of the facet block when the local anesthetic wears off.

If complete pain relief occurs while selected facets are numb, then those joints are likely to be the pain generators. In such cases, patients may be candidates for radiofrequency ablation/facet denervation. This procedure is performed under light sedation with local anesthetic and intended to provide longer-lasting relief from facet-mediated pain – sometimes up to two years.

Other interventional procedures

Selective nerve root block: X-ray guidance (fluoroscopy) is used for therapeutic and/or diagnostic purposes. Medications are injected into the inflamed area surrounding the troubled nerve root. Using this technique, we can most effectively diagnose and treat a patient’s spine-mediated pain with pinpoint accuracy.

Trigger point injection: One of the most effective treatments for disabling trigger points and providing prompt, long-lasting relief of pain and other symptoms. Trigger points are clinically defined as “discrete, focal hyperirritable spots found in any taut band of skeletal muscle.” These knots are painful under palpation and often produce referred pain, tenderness, motor dysfunction and autonomic phenomena.

Dr. R. Alan Moore, Jr., is a board-certified anesthesiologist and pain specialist who uses nerve/facet blocks to treat certain pain conditions. He is dedicated to helping your patients get out of pain and back to their lives. He welcomes and encourages your nerve pain referrals.

To schedule an appointment, please call our office at 713-664-2662 or use our online Request an Appointment form. For additional information on any condition, treatment or procedure, please visit our Health Education Library.