Has anyone used a nerve block in the treatment of facial pain?
I have had a few nerve blocks to address acute pain for TN as well as Occipital Neuralgia. Nerve blocks are frequently used to diagnose ON and I’ve found them helpful for treating the pain of both my ON and TN. I have both typical (shooting white hot pains) and atypical (longer lasting throbs, itching, heat, numbness) TN. The nerve blocks my neurologist has administered are two part: 1. an anesthetic is injected to numb the area surrounding the nerve, 2. a cortisone is then injected to provide more long term relief. Both my TN and ON were caused by trauma sustained during a car accident. I don’t know if that has anything to do with the effectiveness of nerve blocks as a treatment for the pain. My neurologist told me that nerve blocks can provide total relief for some patients. I’ve found that they tend to last approximately six months before the pain starts to creep back into my face. I would talk to your doctor in great detail about the treatment before you have a nerve block, just so that you know what you can expect. In speaking with people on other TN support sites, I’ve heard some people use the term nerve block for alcohol injections or other injection procedures that are more permanent and have different risks. Feel free to contact me if you (or anyone else) have more questions!
I have had it for my new Occipital Neuralgia, it has not done much so far, maybe it help a bit at the injection spot, but the rest still bothers me.
Thanks Lily. Since the results were so good, did you have the procedure repeated?
Lily said:
Hi Mitchell,
I have had a peripheral nerve block performed once. It was partially done to diagnose TN, partially to see if it would “stick”. They did one shot at a point in my eyebrow, and one beside my nose. These are both points where the trigeminal nerve comes through the skull and threads across the face. I have neuropathy in the upper two branches. They used lidocaine and steroids. It hurt only briefly.
Mine lasted a (blissful) week. I understand that they can last longer in other people.
Best of luck,
Lily
As yet Mitchell, I have not - but my pain clinic doctor, wants me to get one done - I’m on a waiting list for that, but he wants me to get this done - more as the diagnostic tool to confirm for him that I have TN. If I get some other benefit such as even a day without pain, then I’ll be very happy.
Best wishes to you Mitchell! Wishing you a pain free day!
Cheers ~ Kerry
I’m glad the procedure went well and hope you get some relief. Keep me posted. I would like to get an injection into the temporal muscle but don’t know if this well affect the ability to move my jaw. Has anyone else had an injection in this area?
I’m thinking of having a nerve block for the temporalis muscle. Anybody have a similar experience?
I have had a nrve block in neck and spine for pain but as for my actual facial pain no although me and my pain doc just recently discussed this and stated that it is possible yet can be very painful and is not that sucessful as far as relieving pain for any extended period of time just thought id let you know what knowledge i had about this Toni
Hi Lily:
I next see my neurologist in November. We will discuss the nerve block then. I will keep you posted.
Lily said:
Hi Mitchell,
I just had my second nerve block - one last month, one today.
I DID experience reduced pain last month - it would come later in the day and be weaker. So we did one again today.
How are you progressing - did you get yours done? I would love to hear an update!
Lily
I had four but overall they didn’t help. My injections had both steriod and alcohol. I had MVD surgery in April. My surgeon recommened I try two of them prior to surgery. The MVD was overall successful because my pain is now very controllable with my meds. And I have been able to decrease some of the medication. Liz K.
I just had a sphenopalatine ganglion nerve block last saturday. So far so good. I have only been experiencing slight pain and soreness from the procedure but glad to say that shocks have stopped since then. I had the same nerve block last November and it lasted for 3 months without shocks and reduced pain so I am hoping it will work for me this time or hopefully will last longer. I have tried other nerve blocks but the sphenopalatine one is the only one that seems to work for me.
Good for you! What other types of nerve blocks have you tried?
Suzanne Schembri said:
I just had a sphenopalatine ganglion nerve block last saturday. So far so good. I have only been experiencing slight pain and soreness from the procedure but glad to say that shocks have stopped since then. I had the same nerve block last November and it lasted for 3 months without shocks and reduced pain so I am hoping it will work for me this time or hopefully will last longer. I have tried other nerve blocks but the sphenopalatine one is the only one that seems to work for me.
I am scheduled for a “stellate block” in November… Is that the same thing?
Can you be more specific about what a stellate block is?
Bill H said:
I am scheduled for a “stellate block” in November… Is that the same thing?
I have also tried the stellate ganglion block which didnt work at all for me. I had a ketamine infusion too and a c2 and c3 nerve block all of these didnt help at all. The only one which seems to last for more than 2 or 3 months seems to be the sphenopalatine nerve block. Its been almost 3 weeks now and still no shocks though some of the pain has come back its something I am coping with through tramadol.
Mitchell Levin said:
Good for you! What other types of nerve blocks have you tried?
Suzanne Schembri said:I just had a sphenopalatine ganglion nerve block last saturday. So far so good. I have only been experiencing slight pain and soreness from the procedure but glad to say that shocks have stopped since then. I had the same nerve block last November and it lasted for 3 months without shocks and reduced pain so I am hoping it will work for me this time or hopefully will last longer. I have tried other nerve blocks but the sphenopalatine one is the only one that seems to work for me.
It was good while it lasted. Just after 3 wks the shocks came back and the procedure stopped working. My doctor doesnt want to do anymore of these procedures as she doesnt want to put me through that again and thinks it could also scar the nerves. She now suggests a peripheral nerve stimulator but problem is its not available in Malta yet and is trying to get it for me as she believes I would benefit from having it to control the pain and shocks.
Suzanne Schembri said:
I have also tried the stellate ganglion block which didnt work at all for me. I had a ketamine infusion too and a c2 and c3 nerve block all of these didnt help at all. The only one which seems to last for more than 2 or 3 months seems to be the sphenopalatine nerve block. Its been almost 3 weeks now and still no shocks though some of the pain has come back its something I am coping with through tramadol.
Mitchell Levin said:Good for you! What other types of nerve blocks have you tried?
Suzanne Schembri said:I just had a sphenopalatine ganglion nerve block last saturday. So far so good. I have only been experiencing slight pain and soreness from the procedure but glad to say that shocks have stopped since then. I had the same nerve block last November and it lasted for 3 months without shocks and reduced pain so I am hoping it will work for me this time or hopefully will last longer. I have tried other nerve blocks but the sphenopalatine one is the only one that seems to work for me.
I had four before I had the MVD surgery. Only one helped for about a week.
i had a nerve block with lidocaine and it made my pain worse. it injured my nerve.
I had 2 nerve blocks for Occipital Neuralgia, they made it worse for a few months, then the right side got a bit better.
has anyone had they calle it a trigger point injection???