WOW! I had the freezing done both sides without any meds. They must do things differently in Canada. I had my second go round with the freezing last Thursday.

DO ice your head-you will probably get marbel sized lumps on the back of your head where the needles went it and it will hurt.

I had the first round of facet injections this week and it has really got the occipital nerve angry. I'm getting all sorts of strange pains from this, but he did four levels which covers three vertebra. I called his nurse and she justs thinks the muscles are aggravated, resulting in increased ON pain and she was sorry that this is happening. Hopefully, it will subside, but it hasn't yet, and thank heavens I haven't had any of the really bad effects from this. Two places where he placed the needles were really sensitive in spite of the numbing meds and the demoral/versed injection. He said the increased pain tells him he is in the right place. I should probably say that they all hurt, but two more so than the others. After he was done, he showed me the images on the flouroscope and explained everything. I'm really glad I seem to have gotten a great doctor. I hope everyone is doing well, ellena

Ellena,

It DOES sound like you have a great doc. He sounds alot like my own.

It is common to have an increase in pain; in particular if the facets were already inflamed and mine usually are. Your doc is right; if you had relief right away from the numbing med then yep, the right spot. Same thing holds true for the increased pain. It SHOULD subside with time...give it about two weeks maybe a bit longer. It takes about that long for the steroid to kick in.

Anyway, the facet injections are the ones I usually dread the most simply because they hurt the most. My PM always kind of laughs because he says MOST patients don't mind the facet injections and hate the selective nerve root injections and those are the ones that don't bother me at all and I told him as much. So, that's when he said the reason the facet injections hurt is again, because by the time I need one or two, they are already badly inflamed.

But the good thing is the last facet injections I had were MONTHS ago at the C2/C3 and they are still working. So, hang in there and give it a few more days. Oh, and there were times I called my PM's office telling them they didn't work. But they said to give it more time and I'll be darned; they were right.

And last but not least, try a cold pack or ice pack but only for about 20 minutes each time. I hope the injections kick in because when they do, it is blessed relief.

good luck to you today and tomorrow............. snappy10.......

This time they did a direct occipital block along with the medial branch block, four levels worth again. I'm once again enjoying the break from this miserable pain. I still have a big lump from the occipital block, but the doc warned me I would and I think he put a ton of meds in there. I'm following the same drill as before and don't go back now for another three weeks. Has anyone noticed weight gain or increased appetite with these injections?
I seem to be retaining water. Anyway, I hope the pain reduction lasts a little while longer. Keep your fingers crossed for me

I've been postponed for the third time here, only this time by the doctor. I'm scheduled to have some heart tests next month and he wants to wait until they are done before proceeding. So, I'm now scheduled in January of next year. My pain has been escalating and will probably be back to where it was when he did the first block, but better safe than sorry.

I am so sorry this keeps happening to you and that you are in pain. It sure brings new meaning to the word suffering, doesn't it?

I hope you will get your treatment ASAP. With stuff like this, treatment is a matter of survival-otherwise how do we function?

*hugs*