Back and neck pain can occur due to many different reasons. When your pain is no longer temporary a different intervention may be necessary.
Before you consider back surgery come to Performance Pain & Sports Medicine for expert, quality treatment and care, where we exhaust conservative, non-surgical spine treatments first.
Medial Branch Blocks
Medial branch blocks are a common diagnostic treatment option for many forms of low back, neck (cervical), and mid spine (thoracic) pain.
The goal of the injection is pain relief; at times the injection alone is sufficient to provide relief, but commonly this test injection is used in combination with other procedures to provide longer lasting benefit. Medial branch blocks deliver medication directly (or very near) the source of pain generation, over the nerve that causes the joints of the spine to hurt. The x-ray (fluoroscope) guided injection includes a local anesthetic. The anesthetic interrupts the pain signal transmission, and a pain diary is provided, to document the response over several hours. After a positive response, then the next line of treatment is discussed.
What are the Benefits of Medial Branch Blocks?
- Minimally Invasive
- Short Recovery Time
- High Success Rate
- Diagnostic
- Same Day Procedure