This is an injection of numbing medicine that bathes the medial branch nerves. These nerves are attached to the facet joints of the spine. Disease or
injury of these joints can cause pain in the medial branch nerves. This pain may travel through the neck, shoulders, upper back and head. A medial
branch block can help your physician find the source of your pain. It may also provide temporary pain relief.

When the procedure is complete, you will be monitored for a brief time and then allowed to go home. A medial branch block may relieve your pain for the next few hours. You may be asked to keep track of your pain level as the medicine wears off. If the block was successful, your physician may recommend a procedure called radiofrequency ablation. This can provide more permanent pain relief.

These injections help your doctor find or treat pain in the facet joints of your neck. Facet joints are found on both sides of your spine. Your vertebrae
connect at these joints.

To begin, your skin is numbed. With the help of a video x-ray device called a “fluoroscope,” the doctor guides a needle to the target facet joint. The doctor injects medicine into the joint. The medicine numbs your nerves. It can reduce inflammation. Your doctor may inject facet joints at more than one level of your spine.

You may feel relief immediately. If so, that means your doctor has found the joint or joints causing your pain. Your doctor can repeat the procedure with longer-lasting medicine to help provide long-term relief.

The Stellate Ganglion Block is an injection that is used to diagnose and treat pain coming from the sympathetic nerves. Shingles and complex regional pain syndromes are commonly treated with a Stellate Ganglion Block.

To receive this treatment, a patient lies on his/her back and anesthetics are administered to help the patient relax and to numb the associated tissue down to the Ganglion nerves. A needle is then inserted through the anesthetized tissue, and a contrast dye is injected to identify the painful areas. The Stellate Ganglion Block, an injection combining anesthetics, saline and anti-inflammatory medicine, are inserted around the Ganglion nerves to prevent pain signals from reaching the brain.

Nerve root in the cervical spine sometimes becomes compressed, resulting in neck, arm and shoulder pain. A Cervical Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection can be a viable option to relieve pain associated with this nerve irritation.

At the beginning of the procedure, the vertebrae and nerve root are located, and a local anesthetic is applied in a patient’s neck to numb all associated tissues. A needle is inserted through the anesthetized tissue, and the Cervical Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection, a mixture of steroids and anesthetics, is applied around the irritated nerve to help sooth it.