Hi there Bev, and welcome to NeuroTalk.

It would be helpful to know which nerve your doctor was talking about, because some nerves are blocked differently to others.

Generally speaking though, nerve root deadening involves either cutting the nerve; sometimes a bit of nerve is removed to prevent the ends from growing back together, or injecting the nerve with a freezing liquid, such as alcohol. Lidocaine or another numbing agent and/or an anti-inflammatory medication may also be used.

I hope that helps to answer your question, but I did find some discussion about nerve blocks in one of our forums called the Occipital Neuralgia and other Cranial Neuralgias Forum, that you might like to check out. Here's the direct link: http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum105.html