Nerve Block Question

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scrappinmaniac

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I've had several ESI's but have never received any pain relief from them, in fact the last one I had a few weeks ago left me in terrible pain. I saw my PM yesterday and he now wants to try a different type of ESI, I'm not sure what the injection is called, he just said the procedure was a nerve block and would be done with a smaller needle than is used with an ESI.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of injection? Has anyone found relief with a nerve block that did not find relief with an ESI? I would appreciate any feedback or advice.

Thanks.

Scrappin'
 
Could it be a Facet Joint Injection? I've had two so far. That was after the three Epidural shots. I didn't know how to explain what it is so I looked it up. Not sure if I will get it right or not. The Facet injection puts a nurabing medicine into the joint. The Epidural puts the medicine into the space around them. The nerve block puts the meRAB on or around the nerve. I guess it depenRAB on your pain if the dr. will do the Facet injection or nerve block. Hope this helped.
 
Thank you again for clarifying. It makes things a lot easier when you know what people are talking about!!:jester:
 
Erin,
Don't hesitate to ask. None of us knew what all this meant until we had our own back injuries. This board can be more beneficial to you if you know all the jargon! Ask away, we'll be glad to help ;)

Deb
 
Thank you all for your replies, I sincerely appreciate them.

Hessie - I'm pretty sure the new injections aren't facet joint injections. I actually saw a post of yours last week, b/4 my appt, and looked up FJ injections b/c my dr had previously told me that we would discuss what other treatment options were available to me at this last appt.

Baybreeze and Deb - Do dr's usually do nerve blocks to treat nerve pain? I don't have nerve pain, even though my left and right sciatic nerves are both compressed. I have tried countless times to tell all of the dr's I have seen that I do NOT have nerve pain but they all have tried to treat my non-existent nerve pain.

I am planning to call my PM's office on Monday to ask what the injections are actually called...my confusion stems from my conversation with the girl who scheduled the injections after I spoke with the dr...I asked her if the procedure process was the same...meaning on the day of the injection should I take it easy for the rest of the day, and no heat/only ice for first 24 hrs (you know the usual...blah, blah)...she said the process was the same b/c I was having more ESI's, just in a different place, but this is NOT how my dr explained it to me...he said he would try a nerve block and showed me on a model of a spine where he would put the injection (lower left side of spine)...I asked him if he would still be injecting me with steroiRAB...he said yes...I asked him if the injection would be painful...he said no, if anything it would be less painful b/c he would be using a smaller needle. For some reason I don't feel good about these next two injections...it may be b/c at my appt last week my dr seemed annoyed that I didn't get any pain relief from the previous two ESI's...hmmm...I have a bad gut feeling and I think maybe I should listen to it.

Thanks again :)!

God Bless,
Scrappin'
 
I had a nerve block done at L5 this past summer for severe sciatica on the left side. Mine was done as a "lurabar transforaminal" injection. It is similar to an ESI and they also inject steroiRAB like an ESI, but.....not to scare you, I had to feel everything so they could know they were getting the right area. OMG I almost went through the roof off the table!! (and made alot of noise, too) However, the pain only lasted several seconRAB, I think, then they completely nurabed it up and I felt no more pain. I had a tiny bit of soreness a day or 2 after, but that went away...and it totally caused my sciatic pain to stop finally ( I had it almost 3 months). I also had either a piece of disc material or scar tissue stuck in that area, so that probably was a big part of my pain & parasthesias. They were hoping to flush it out of there with the injection & I guess it worked. So I was one person who did have success from it and would do it again, even though it hurt.
 
Hello all,

I hope all is well!

I have a concern. I am going for my first set of injections the 31st. I know the doctor said that on my 3rd set of injections, I would also get a nerve block at the same time. I am very nervous about all of it!

I have had back pain for so long and had always avoided dr's who recommended spinal injections, but am now at the point I am ready to try them. My PM doc said that if I do not get relief from the injections, that he will more and likely recommend me to another doctor for surgery. Yikes!

My issue is that I most of the time, I have my normal pain and stiffness on a daily basis along with leg and foot pain due to my sciatica. I basically have just learned to live with it, just as long as I have pain meRAB (even though I do not get complete relief). Well last night I almost threw my back out. I have not had my back go out in about 11 years, but about once a year I get this major flare-up where I feel my back is going to go out. And whenever this happens its always during the cold months and I did not do anything major to make this happen. It usually lasts a few weeks and I look like a hunch back, cause I can not stand up straight. I am wondering if I should let my PM doc know about this, before my injections next week? Will the shots make it worse or maybe better? Should I be even more cautious after the injections? I can not afford to be laid up due to my back going out.

Hopefully someone has some input or advice.

Thanks so much Rain
 
I had a sympathetic nerve block of L5 in Deceraber, after already having 2 ESI's. The ESI's made me much worse. Unfortunately, the PM did a ESI along with the sympathetic nerve block and so it did not help. I think if I had a nerve block alone it may actually help. I had Versed with my nerve block....so you are awake for the procedure, you just don't remeraber the procedure. So you still tell him where the pain is, it still hurts, you just don't remeraber it hurting. Seems like a terrible way to trick your body doesn't it? :confused: Good luck, let me know how it goes!

Deb
 
Hey guys when you talk about ESI's what are you referring to? Is that an epidural steroid injection? I am new to this forum and just want to clarify.

Thanks
Erin
 
Hello Rain :).

Can you try to describe what your back feels like when you throw it out? Is the feeling similar to how you feel when you pull a muscle? I would recommend that you discuss this with your doctor before your appt next week.

I'm surprised to hear you've had back problems for years and have been able to avoid steroid injections. I think that is GREAT! In your post you mention you are going for your first set of injections the 31st...your doctor is only going to do one injection that day, right? Is his plan to give you a total of three steroid injections over a short period of time? I think it's good he told you that he would recommend surgery if the injections don't help...some PM's want to keep trying injections which is dangerous. I do know that steroid injections are known to usually help people that have both back pain and nerve pain, which seems to be the case with you, so you might be pleasantly surprised. The actual procedure is painless, quick and easy.

Best wishes,
Scrappin'
 
Hi Scrappin,

Thanks so much! Well, I will give a bit of my back history along with what it feels like (the best I can describe it).

When I was 8 yrs old, my back went out for the first time. I think it stems from a fall I had when I was @ 5-6. I had fallen flat on my tail bone on ice. All throughout grade school I had such difficulty sitting in class on those hard chairs. Any activities in gym class that involved you on the floor, (sit-ups etc...) I always got out of because it caused me pain. The pain as a child was always an aching and pressure type of pain. Could never get comfortable sitting in chairs. I never really complained about it because I thought it was normal. My mom took me to the doctors when I was 8 and my back went out. I do not remeraber what came of it though. My back went out again when I was in the 7th grade and through out my teens, my back pain got worse. Ached all the time. When I was 17 my dad finally took me to the dr's because I finally broke down crying about it. I don't think he ever believed me when I was young because he also has a bad back and I think he thought I was copying off him or something. Both times my back had went out it was only for a few hours.

Now when I was 18, I had my back go out on me, but for a whole month. I was bed ridden for 2-3 weeks and my mom took me to a back specialist she was told about. After a MRI, it showed I had 3 herniated disks and an onset of DDD along with sciolosis.

Now when my back actually goes completely out, I can not walk or barely walk, sitting causes so much pain and it is almost impossible for me to move.

After I was 18, I had my back go out 3 more times. 2 of the times it was only for less then a week. The last time was about 11 yrs ago and was the worst, I was on disability for 3 months and ended up losing my job. I should have sued, but that was along time ago.

One thing I have learned and that is why I think my back has not gone out in so long is that there are usually signs a few days before my back usually goes out. And that is what I am experiencing now. The pain I am felling is in my lower back. It is hard for me to stand up straight, it kind of feels like I am stuck or locked, but with major aching and muscle spasms. The pain down my leg is the same as it usually is. That pain is a shooting, burning pain starting from my hip going down my thigh into my calf. Some days it goes down to my foot, which is a new thing that started about 6 months ago.

I have always had these bad flare-ups, usually once a year, sometimes more.

Now my everyday pain is basically an aching pain in my lower back and sometimes I get a stabbing feeling right it the spine area itself. Then the sciatica pain is a shooting and burning pain, that seems to radiate from the center of my leg.

I still work full time and can say I am somewhat active. I can not stand just laying around and being a couch potato, but exercise it pretty much out of the question. I have also been through physical therapy several times maxing out my allowed visits. The only time I have had relief from physical therapy was when my back actually goes out. It does not help my everyday pain. I have just learned to adapt and pretty much know my limitations.

I know my last visit with my family doctor, I had broke down crying, not because I was in horrible horrible pain, but because I am frusterated with the pain I am in and it never goes away. And I am also scared of my options. (surgery) I am afraid of how much time it will take away from life as far as recovery time goes. I can not afford to be off work for a very long time. I only have short term disabilty benefits.

There is so much more I can add as far as details, but I think I have already made this post to long. Sorry!

Thanks so much for listening!!! Take care! Rain:angel:
 
Opps,

Forgot to go over the injections. Yes, he said I will go for one injection at a time. I am to have this done 3 times about 3-4 weeks apart from each other. On the 3rd, I guess I am to have the nerve block. What is that? He did not give me much detail for the nerve block. He did mention if they do not help waiting a year and get them again, but he said he thinks it would be a waste of time waiting. The problem with the surgery recommendation I find is that the last doctor I seen for my back (@ 5 years ago) recommended fusing my spine. The PM doctor knows this doctor well and recommenRAB I go back to him. I had also seen 3 other doctors at that time and 2 of them recommended disocotomies and the 3rd was rude as can be and said I need to learn to live with it.

Thanks again Rain
 
Hi Rain,

I'm sorry I've taken so long to reply to your post :(...I won't bore you with the details...I'm simply going through a really tough time right now with my back problems and everything that comes with them...doctors...chronic pain...treatments.

Please don't feel you have to apologize for writing a long post...I don't mind...I know how nice it is to talk to other's experiencing back problems.

I was in disbelief as I read your post...you were entirely too young when your back problems started...you have been dealing with a bad back for so long, it's probably hard for you to recall what life was like before you injured it...I have been told a gazillion times I'm too young to have back problems, but you were too young. I do now understand what you mean when you say your back goes out sometimes...in fact, when I think back to my teen years and early twenties, I recall times when my back would do the same thing...when my back would go out, I would go to my GP...he would tell me I pulled a muscle and give me a script for muscle relaxers and tell me to take it easy for a few days, and I'd be fine until the next time...I also remeraber similiar episodes with nerve pain in my left thigh, even though at that time I wasn't aware the pain was nerve pain, I thought it was muscular.

Do you have to take daily pain meRAB to control your pain or only when you have flare ups? Do you take a nerve med to help calm your nerve pain? I'm hoping you get some pain relief from the injections...unfortunately I haven't had any luck with them but a lot of people do. In your post you asked what a nerve block is...I have never had one, but from what I have learned it's pretty similiar to an ESI...steroiRAB are injected near your nerves in hopes of alleviating some of your nerve pain...I have heard good and bad things about nerve blocks...if you don't feel comfortable about the procedure, ask your dr to better explain it to you.

Please let us know how your injections go...I hope and pray they help with your pain.

Take Care :),
Scrappin'

 
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