Went to see mynuero. He wants me to have nerve block in occipital to totally kill the nerve and fix the occipital head pain. I told him I disscussed with my pain doctor who said that would cause permanent numbness and was dangerous because if i did injury head i woul'nt know it. I also told him about the phantom pains and neuro said it was still way to go. What are your thoughts? Anyone do this cause the stims arenot an option due to insurance. Jen

I have the same issue, When I first injured myself they gave me novacane patches and after a couple months they seemed to kinda work (it got basically better- except for the occasional flare) but now it is flaring most of the time and my Neuro keeps telling me I should do the nerve block, but I am not sure about this... if anyone has any experience with this I would love to hear about it...

I'm not sure of what you are talking about. Nerve blocks are not permanent procedures. I've had three to date and they aren't known to do permanent damage to the nerve. They are injections with anesthetics and steroids. My pain doctor uses marcaine which is a long acting local. Please clarify what procedures you are speaking of. EE

EE03,

There IS one procedure that WILL kill the nerve permanently and for the life of me I can't remember the name of it. But 10 years ago or so the PM I had at the time mentioned this to me but also WARNED me I would have permanent numbness. At the time I was almost ready to go for it but as he said, patients that proceed with this sometimes wish they had the pain back because the permanent numbness drove them nuts! I just wish I could remember the name of the procedure.

The nerve blocks you and I and others have had are NOT the same thing. As you said, they are not permanent and wear off. I still get injections but not occipital ones; mainly FACET injections at the C2/C3 (at times) and/or SNI's on very rare occasions (think I have had maybe 3 in 10 years).

Anyway, long story short and going back to this permanent procedure, I opted out!! I also opted out of any RF's ONLY because I had already been told I would need a fusion (actually turned out to be two fusions).

Kathi,

I was told not to consider an ablation(RFA) to the occipital nerves as it would most likely cause permanent pain. My doctor said he won't do that to me. He is also trying to send me to a neurologist for medical management which I hate the thought of but I guess he's getting frustrated.

Anyway, I'm still confused about what she is talking about. And, what is a SNI?

All I know is my Migraine Dr. says he wants to give me a nerve block for the Occipital Nerve, and he ways it is just numbing med's to calm down the nerve- he said it could last 5 years or so and then it might flare again. I am wondering though if it is going to be similar to the steroid injections I got in my lower back.... those hurt- they reminded me of my spinal tap.

I Just had two blockers one on the right and left in the back of the skull. They were cortizone and lydicain. They go into the tissue around nerve to help with spasm. The procedure was a breeze but nothing permanent. In fact they didn't work for me at all. If they do work it can take couple days before they do and can last up to several weeks. I've read that you can have the nerves severed but I have not discussed that with my neurologist.

If someone tells you to sever those nerves, ask for a second opinion-doing so can actually leave you with phantom pain and that NEVER goes away. My pain specialist, is adamant we are NOT cutting the nerves!