Pain relief treatments like sympathetic nerve blocks open up the opportunity of regaining life quality, mobility, and tranquility lost due to certain medical conditions.
Here at University Pain and Spine Center, we want to help you relieve chronic vascular, visceral, and neuropathic pain that you are feeling. Whether the pain is minor or severe, our qualified and friendly staff is here to help you.
The sympathetic nerves travel along both sides of your spine and control a wide range of involuntary functions such as circulation, digestion, sweat production, and the transmission pain signals. A sympathetic nerve block is a procedure that helps alleviate acute and chronic pain by numbing nerve branches by administering an injection into the ganglions.
Depending on where the pain is located, the professional will carefully find the exact place where to perform the procedure, whether it is happening on the extremities, the lower back, deep internal organs, or directly on nerves. It helps doctors find and treat a number of problems linked to nerves sending the pain signals to the brain. Usually, a series of injections is needed to treat any of the conditions mentioned.
To inject the anesthetic solution, precise imaging equipment is needed, and differentiated potent medication will be administered, depending on the type of pain to be treated.
The sympathetic nerves are one of the most important parts of the autonomic nervous system, as they are responsible for activating different mechanisms caused by perceived threats, while also being closely related to pain signals of different parts of the body.
In fact, sympathetic nerves, which are a cluster of nerve bodies, are the cause of many different chronic pain manifestations related to poor blood pressure, nerve damage, and even pain caused by some types of cancer.
This therapeutic window, whose duration may vary from one another, not only gives an interval of mental and physical tranquility for resuming physiotherapy alternatives, but also gives the opportunity of reducing systemic medication dependence. As you can see, there’s an interconnection of all positive outcomes, such as therapeutic and diagnostic benefits, once pain relief is achieved, whether it is a short-term alleviation, a mid-term one, or even one that lasts for months.
While considered a pain management treatment in general, sympathetic nerve block is primarily used for specific medical conditions directly related to the sympathetic nervous system.
The following are the main pathological states that can be treated with sympathetic nerve blocks:
After the procedure is completed, the most common consequences include a soreness more close to a burning sensation in the treated area. This painful sensation is called neuritis and can last from a couple of days to a few weeks, depending on each patient’s specific recovery and healing conditions. Following a successful procedure, no complication should appear beyond the mentioned ones.
Once the procedure is completed, there are some side effects that could happen in the treated area where the injection was applied, such as temporary soreness, a feeling of warmth, or a tingling sensation. Depending on the ganglia treated, some weakness on the legs may appear in the following hours after a lumbar sympathetic block, and also some voice changes, Horner’s syndrome, or difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), if the procedure is a stellate ganglion block.
This depends entirely on the body’s response to the treatment, as it could last from just a couple of hours up to days and weeks. Being completely clear that a sympathetic nerve block doesn’t provide a definite solution is very important. But the time window of pain relief that it can open is worth the opportunity, as it can work in parallel with other alternatives.
As mentioned above, there’s the possibility that the pain relief is not achieved, or not for the expected ideal time. But in those cases, there’s still hope of finding alleviation thanks to other treatment options provided by University Pain & Spine Center, such as surgical neurotomy / rhizotomy, which involves RF ablations.
When looking for pain relief treatments for you or someone close to you in New Jersey, it can be overwhelming once you realize all the available alternatives. And then, with that in mind, it’s crucial to choose one option that meets your expectations, especially when it comes to chronic pain relief, as there’s always a margin of success. Punctal medical conditions related to vascular, visceral, and neuropathic pains are candidates for a sympathetic nerve block, as it is a pain management option that offers a reasonable success rate.
With professional accompaniment, it’s easier to see that there are still possibilities of finding the longed-for rest, even if it is for a certain period of time. Which, in turn, increases the possibilities of further treating a chronic condition thanks to the provided amelioration. Contact us or call us at 732-873-6868 to learn in more detail about sympathetic nerve blocks. We also invite you to visit the University Pain and Spine Center so that our professionals can let you know if this is a suitable treatment for you.
