Nerve Block Injection

[grahamtwine]

I had a nerve block injection in my spine a few months ago, however it only helped the pain for a couple of weeks. I see the specialist again in September.

HOw many nerve block injections are they allowed to do each year? Is there any other similar solution?

I am also going for a sleep study in September as it is thought I have sleep apnoea, my oxygen level has dropped a bit during the daytime, can scoliosis patients have sleep apnoea or is it more likely to have respiratory failure. My girlfriend has a nippy 2 and she has scoliosis.

Graham

[trulyaries]

I was told that doctors won't do more than 6 injections in a year. The first time I had one it was immediate relief. However, each subsequent injection seemed to make the pain worse and I ended up having surgery for spinal stenosis.

My oxygen level dropped after my surgery and I was told that I have sleep apnea. I don't know if it is related to scoliosis; I have it in my family (I think my dad invented it!) and I was told there's a family tendency. I do know that scoliosis can result in diminished lung capacity (which I have).

You can check my recent posts where I talk about my experience. I'm still exploring the entire issue. I would be interested to hear what you find out about the sleep apnea and its connection to scoliosis once you have your tests and ask your questions.

P.S. What's a "nippy 2"? :confused:

[Karen Ocker]

Nerve blocks can serve at least two purposes:

Diagnostic:

If local anesthesia is injected into a certain spot with pain relief then the area causing the problem has been diagnosed but not necessarily cured. However breaking a chronic pain cycle can be helpful.

Therapeutic:

Injections of steroids into the correct spot CAN reduce pain if it is caused by inflammation say from a ruptured disc.

This may not work if pain is caused by nerve pressure from scoliosis or loose hardware because the cause has not been addressed/removed.

[trulyaries]

This may not work if pain is caused by nerve pressure from scoliosis or loose hardware because the cause has not been addressed/removed.
Karen:
Thank you for that concise explanation. Too bad no doctors ever told me that; we could have saved ourselves the hassle of about 3 more injections and about 3 more months of time wasted! I'll know better in the future.