When lasting pain affects your quality of life, nerve blocks may be an excellent option to provide relief. Our doctors at the Pain Management Center at Cooper specialize in pinpointing the location of your pain and using nerve blocks to treat your discomfort.
Nerve Blocks: Our Approach
For a nerve block, doctors inject a local anesthetic with a medication that reduces inflammation and temporarily numbs the nerve causing pain. When the medication wears off, the nerve no longer transmits pain messages to the brain.
Some of the many types of pain that nerve blocks can relieve include:
- Abdominal pain
- Back pain
- Chest wall and rib cage pain
- Groin, pelvic, and genital pain
- Headaches
- Joint pain, including knee and shoulder pain
- Leg pain
- Neck pain
What to Expect During a Nerve Block
A nerve block is a short outpatient procedure, typically lasting a few minutes. During the procedure, you sit or lie in a comfortable position. Our doctors then:
- Clean the skin with an antiseptic to reduce the risk of infection
- Apply local anesthesia to numb the skin
- Use X-ray fluoroscopy or a computed tomography (CT) scan to guide their placement of the needle
- Carefully inject medication to numb the nerve
The risks of a nerve block are small. The most common complications include infection, bleeding, worsening of pain, and nerve damage. We minimize these risks by completing a thorough evaluation of your health and medical history. Most patients need two treatments for long-lasting results.
Contact Us
To learn more about the Pain Management Center at Cooper or to schedule an appointment, please call 856.963.6770.
Refer a Patient
Referring physicians are welcome to call us any time at 856.963.6770 with questions or concerns about a shared patient or to refer a patient to our care. Learn more about pain management referrals.