Chronic pain has a more than 20% prevalence among United States adults. People's pain varies, from mild nuisances to the type that keeps you in bed all day. If you're in serious need of some relief, it's time to take drastic measures. Thankfully, there are several medical procedures that you can look into.

Nerve blocks are some of the most promising forms of pain relief you can look into. Keep reading so that you can explore nerve block treatment, its benefits and side effects, and what you should know about the procedure.

What Is a Nerve Block

Patients explore nerve blocks to help with any pain that they're experiencing.

Nerve block refers to an injection that numbs and reduces pain and discomfort. The block targets the nerve group located central to your pain areas. Sometimes you spell opportunity right

These injections work similarly to anesthesia and are specifically formulated for different types of pain relief. For example, a person with pain in their back or neck might target the cervical epidural or lumbar epidural nerve. You would get a nerve blocker that targets your maxillary nerve if you're having intense jaw pain. Doctors and specialists provide these injections during surgery or as a pain relief regimen to prevent surgery or other more severe measures.

What Are the Benefits of Nerve Blocks?

Blocks for pain relief come with a host of benefits. They target different types of pain effectively and can be tailored to whatever issues you're dealing with.

Here are some of the advantages of nerve blocks:

• The temporary pain relief benefits are effective
• It's minimally invasive when compared to surgical procedures
• They're safe and don't pose significant risks
• You can dull the pain while allowing your nerves to heal
• It increases your range of motion and ability to function

Keep these benefits in mind as you see the help of pros that offer these procedures.

What Are the Different Nerve Block Types?

Next, take the time to consider the different types of nerve blocks around. In the majority of these procedures, patients receive a nerve block injection at the site in order to target specific areas.

Some of the main types of nerve blocks that you might look into include:

• Peripheral nerve blockade
• Spinal Anesthesia
• Spinal anesthesia
• Rhizotomy
• Sympathetic blockade
• Neurectomy
• Epidural analgesia

These nerve blocks are installed in different areas of your spine or body and will affect various organ systems. Make sure that you understand the procedure before moving forward.

How Can You Get a Nerve Block

If you're going to get a nerve block, you need to embrace the process and seek the help of the best pros. The more informed you are on the procedure, the easier time you'll have advocating for yourself as a patient and communicating your pain issues to your doctor.

Start with these tips:

Consult With a Medical Professional

Only allow a licensed and insured medical professional to inject you with any sort of nerve blocker.

The medical professional will discuss the different issues that you're dealing with and let you know the best course of action. Certain injections might be best for back pain, while others are helpful for chronic arthritis. Prior to administering an injection, your doctor may find that there are better alternatives to try out, such as physical therapy, exercise, and nitrous oxide treatments.

Before moving forward with injections, they'll also explain any nerve block side effects, such as:

• Unexpected weight gain
• A boost in energy and hyperactivity
• Higher blood sugar levels
• Itching and skin irritation
• Rash and redness
• Bleeding
• Soreness from the injection

Once you're aware of these side effects and have a professional completely explain them to you, decide how you'd like to proceed, and book an appointment.

Check With Your Medical Insurance

When you book an appointment, the medical professional will take your insurance information so you can file a claim. Choose a medical professional that accepts your insurance policy, and find out upfront how much these injections will cost you.

The doctor will let you know how many injections they need to administer and will explain the exact type of medication used. Figure out if you need to pay a co-pay, learn your deductible, and ensure that your policy is valid and active before moving forward.

Undergo the Procedure

Once your insurance information is on track and you feel comfortable with the procedure, the doctor will schedule an appointment. Make sure that you take the rest of the day off from work and give yourself some time to take it easy and recover.

Even if you don't have any serious side effects or complications, you may experience bouts of numbness that make it difficult for you to engage in everyday activities. Follow up with a doctor or pain relief clinic afterward to let them know any progress and whether a higher or lower dose is needed next time.

Nerve Block 101

These tips will help you when you're dealing with pain and want some relief. This is a procedure you can try out for any kind of pain you're dealing with, so waste no time finding the help of some pros that can assist you.

Let AZ Pain Doctors explain our many different remedies for people needing relief. We serve customers in Glendale, Sun City, Phoenix, and a host of other areas. Take the time to schedule an appointment online or give us a call at (602)795-8700.

Have you been experiencing a lot of pain, specifically localized muscle pain? Is it interfering with your everyday life?

If so, you may be experiencing trigger point pain. Trigger point pain is when tight muscle fibers form in your muscles after an injury or simple overuse. It can be painful and annoying, but luckily you can get trigger point injections to help.

In this guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to know about these injections and what they can do for you and your pain. Keep reading to learn how to turn your life around.

What Is a Trigger Point Injection?

Trigger point injections are meant to treat chronic muscle pain relating to myofascial trigger points. These are sensitive bundles of fiber tissues banded together into a muscle.

These injections are given directly into the myofascial trigger points.

There are various types of injections for trigger point pain. These can include:

• A local anesthetic that blocks pain receptors
• A corticosteroid to reduce inflammation in the muscle
• Botox, which can interfere with nerve signaling pathways

The type of injection you receive depends greatly on what your doctor feels will help you the most. Having an open and honest conversation with them before receiving an injection is vital.

Benefits of Trigger Point Injections

There are so many benefits of trigger point injections, from reducing back pain and neck pain to having low risks of side effects. You honestly cannot go wrong with getting a trigger point injection. Here is a bit more about the benefits of getting the injections.

1. Pain Relief

One of the most apparent benefits of getting trigger point injections is to relieve pain. When you have chronic pain, it can interfere with your everyday life and make you pretty miserable.

By getting the injections, you can feel relief throughout your entire body. When it is injected in the area of the pain, while that pain subsides, the rest of your body also relaxes since it compensates for the pain it feels elsewhere.

When your body starts to relax, you can return to your everyday life without experiencing pain every day!

You can talk to your doctor about how often to receive the trigger point injections to help keep your pain at bay.

2. Low-Risk Side Effects

Another great thing about these injections is that they have little to no side effects, and the ones they do have are low risk. In reality, you can't do anything in life without having side effects!

Here is what you may experience after a trigger point injection:

• Soreness or numbness in the injection area

That's about it! They are nonsurgical and noninvasive, so they do not have many side effects.

3. No Downtime

After many procedures, shots, or injections, there may be some downside. However, that is not the case with trigger point injections.

These come with little to no downtime.

Once you get the injection, you can continue your day as you usually would. That means if you have to go to work, you can. If you want to go to the beach, you can do that, too.

After the injection, you may even realize that you need less downtime because you can get back to doing the things you love without the pain you have been experiencing! This is especially true with patients who experience migraines and headaches due to trigger point pain.

4. Versatile

There are many reasons to get trigger point injections. They treat many different conditions; it's not just one type of pain it treats.

They can actually treat pain as well as health conditions. For instance, the trigger point injections can help with the following:

• Back and neck pain
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Temporomandibular joint pain (TMJ)
• Fibromyalgia symptoms
• Osteoarthritis
• Sciatica

These injections can also help with sports injuries.

5. Can Work Alongside Other Treatment Options

Another great thing about these injections is that they can be used in conjunction with other therapies. You can try out physical therapy, acupuncture, and massages, or make other lifestyle changes like adding yoga into your daily routine.

Using these different treatment options, along with the injections, can help with the pain and healing process.

What to Do After the Injections

After you receive a trigger point injection, you can use the muscle that was treated right away—again, there is no downtime! However, you will want to refrain from doing any strenuous activity for a few days.

Typically, you can expect to have pain relief for about 24 hours to 72 hours after the injection. Sometimes, pain relief can last up to a month with the injection.

Depending on what is in the injection, you can do it relatively frequently to reduce the pain you experience.

Getting Trigger Point Injections

No one wants to go through life with chronic pain every single day. It gets in the way and can become highly unpleasant.

If you have been experiencing trigger point pain, getting trigger point injections can drastically reduce the pain you feel on a daily basis. There are so many benefits in addition to reducing pain as well!

If you are ready to get rid of the pain, you can schedule an appointment with us at AZ Pain Doctors. We will discuss what you need to get rid of your chronic pain. With our office full of double-board certified doctors in anesthesiology and pain management, we have your back (both literally and figuratively).

Get started today.