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Health

How a Root Block Works to Relieve Pain in Your Limbs

We know from personal experience that traditional medical care for chronic limb pain does not provide enough relief.

Florida Medical Pain Management interventional medicine experts can help you get to the root cause of your pain. They reach the nerves that transmit pain signals to your brain. A root block can help relieve limb pain.

Let’s discuss nerve roots.

Your nervous system is unique, and nerve roots are a part of it. But before we get to nerve roots, let us start at the top. The spinal cord starts at the brain and runs down the length of your spine. It’s protected by bony vertebrae that make up the spinal canal.

The spinal cord combines all nerves that carry outgoing and incoming messages between your brain, and the rest of your body. These messages, or nerve signals, must be delivered by the nerves. Each vertebra has four openings that allow nerves to enter the spine. Two on each side.

Two groups of motor nerves exit the spine at each vertebra and two groups of sensory nerves return. Once motor nerves leave, they branch off and carry messages from the brain to the area of your body close to the vertebra.

Sensory nerves are the same. As they enter your spine, the many branches of sensory nerves that gather information about pain in that area of your body form two bundles and send messages to your brain.

We are now at the nerve roots. Nerve roots are the four small bundles of outgoing and incoming nerves located at each vertebra.

Here are some ways a root block can relieve your pain.

When your sensory nerves detect changes in your body, you feel pain. That signal is then converted into a nerve impulse, which travels along the nerve root and up the spine to your brain. Your brain interprets the message as pain and you feel it.

Root blocks effectively relieve pain by stopping nerve impulses at the nerve roots. The pain signal is blocked from reaching your brain and you won’t feel it.

Root blocks are used to stop pain signals. Two medications are injected at the nerve root targeted: a local and a systemic anesthetic. Anesthetics instantly block nerve impulses and provide fast pain relief. Steroids decrease inflammation at the nerve root and provide longer-lasting relief.

Nerve blocks can be injected at individual sensory nerves in your limbs. However, we can target the nerve root to provide better pain relief. A root block can effectively relieve pain in your legs or arms because it blocks any nerve root within your spine.

What happens when there is a root block

Because the diagnostic injection is the first, the root block requires two injections. We can identify the nerve root that is causing the pain in your limbs based on your symptoms and diagnostic imaging. We first administer an anesthetic to verify that the nerve block works. If the pain is reduced, we proceed with the steroid-containing neuroblock.

We use X-ray imaging for guidance when administering injections. The needle is placed precisely at the nerve root and injected with the medication. The injected fluid surrounds each nerve root and essentially soaks them in pain-relieving medication.

Although the results of root blocks can vary from patient to patient, many patients find long-lasting pain relief that lasts for several months to one year. Call Florida Medical Pain Management to find out if a root block is right for you.

A medical professional wrote this article at Florida Medical Pain Management. Florida Medical Pain Management is proud to offer comprehensive pain management services to a diverse group of patients. Patients at Florida Medical Pain Management can get help managing hip, knee, leg, and neck pain. The practice also offers comprehensive arthritis management, along with treatments for auto accidents, sports, and work injuries as well as Ketamine Infusion For Pain Management.

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