Peripheral Nerve Blocks

The peripheral nerves around your body tell the brain you’re hurt by transmitting pain signals. At Premier Pain Consultants in San Antonio, Texas, fellowship-trained Dmitriy Buyanov, MD, and his team use local anesthetic injections to switch off these signals and relieve pain. Peripheral nerve blocks can treat everything from postherpetic neuralgia to migraines and cancer. Call Premier Pain Consultants today to learn more about peripheral nerve blocks or request a consultation online.

What are peripheral nerve blocks?

The peripheral nerves spread out from your spinal cord to all parts of your body. They provide sensory information so you know if something’s hot, cold, rough, smooth, etc. Peripheral nerves also send pain messages back to your brain if you suffer tissue damage.

Pain is a vital self-preservation mechanism. Because it’s so unpleasant, you act quickly to prevent the damage from worsening, tend to the injury, and avoid infection. However, people with many chronic conditions experience pain all or most of the time, with little to no benefit.

Nerve blocks are injections that deliver medication to the nerves sending unhelpful pain signals to your brain. They contain a local anesthetic that numbs the area thoroughly and may include steroids to reduce inflammation.

Some, like epidural nerve blocks, go into your spine, where they reduce back and neck pain. Peripheral nerve blocks target other nerve clusters around the body.

What peripheral nerve blocks might I need?

The type of nerve block you need depends on where your pain is coming from. Peripheral nerve blocks the Premier Pain Consultants team uses include:

Stellate ganglion block

The stellate ganglion is a nerve mass in your upper back. A nerve block injection into the stellate ganglion relieves head, neck, arm, and chest pain.

Celiac plexus blocks

Injections into your abdomen’s celiac plexus nerve bundle can treat abdominal pain.

Intercostal nerve block

An intercostal nerve block injection relieves pain in your chest wall.

Hypogastric plexus, ganglion impar, and splanchnic plexus blocks

The hypogastric plexus nerves are at the base of your spine, ganglion impar nerve cells are at the front of your coccyx (tailbone), and splanchnic plexus nerves control pain in your abdomen.

Elbow and wrist blocks

These joint blocks numb the wrist, hand, arm, and/or shoulder.

Subarachnoid block

A subarachnoid block numbs the abdomen, hips, legs, and pelvis.

Sphenopalatine ganglion block

The sphenopalatine ganglion is a nerve cluster that serves your head and neck.

What conditions can peripheral nerve blocks treat?

Peripheral nerve blocks can relieve numerous painful conditions, including:

• Postherpetic neuralgia (shingles pain)
• Headaches and migraines
• Chronic pancreatitis
• Pelvic pain
• Cancer
• Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
• Trigeminal neuralgia
• Occipital neuralgia
• Arthritis

Your provider recommends the most appropriate peripheral nerve block after completing a thorough exam and symptom review.

Call Premier Pain Consultants to learn more about peripheral nerve blocks or request an evaluation by completing the online booking form.