A nerve block is a technique used in pain management which involves the injection of an anesthetic into the area surrounding an affected nerve or nerves. This pain management technique treats nueropathic pain which interrupts pain signals to the brain. An injection of local anesthetics, opioids, or steroids can produce short-term back pain relief.
There are different types of nerves blocks. An epidural steroid injection is typically used as a first line therapy in treating acute disc herniations in an effort to avoid having surgery. In this case, the steroid would be placed in the epidural space under fluoroscopy. These types of injections can produce short term pain relief and usually have no long-term effect for patients.
