Nerve pain, or neuropathic pain, happens when nerves get irritated, compressed, damaged, or inflamed. Unlike pain from injury to soft tissues, nerve pain involves the nerves themselves misfiring or transmitting excessive pain signals. This creates distinctive sensations, like burning, tingling, electric shock-like feelings, numbness, or weakness.
Nerve pain is different from regular pain and often doesn't respond well to standard pain medications. It requires targeted treatment addressing the underlying nerve problem, and when medications, physical therapy, and activity modification aren’t enough, you’re not out of options.
Our team at Interventional Spine and Pain Institute specializes in nerve pain treatment in Melbourne, Palm Bay, and Vero Beach, Florida. If you have chronic nerve pain, here are four effective — and minimally invasive — treatment options worth considering.
A nerve block is an injection that puts medication near the nerves responsible for your pain. Local anesthetic numbs the nerve and provides immediate pain relief. Anti-inflammatory medication reduces nerve irritation over the course of a few days.
Pain relief from a nerve block typically lasts weeks to months, giving you a valuable opportunity to focus on physical therapy and other treatments with less discomfort. Nerve blocks work well for localized nerve pain, and we can typically repeat them as needed.
Radiofrequency ablation uses heat energy to damage nerves transmitting pain signals to your brain, and this option can provide longer-lasting relief than nerve blocks. Using imaging guidance, we position a needle near the target nerve and administer radiofrequency energy to heat and damage the nerve tissue.
This controlled damage means the nerve can no longer transmit pain signals as effectively, and you experience less discomfort. Pain relief from radiofrequency ablation typically lasts 6-12 months or longer, and it can be a good option for chronic nerve pain from arthritis, facet joint disease, or other structural problems.
Epidural steroid injections deliver powerful anti-inflammatory medication directly to nerves in your spine, reducing the inflammation that’s contributing to your nerve irritation and pain. The steroid reduces swelling around compressed or irritated nerves, and pain relief develops over days to weeks.
Pain relief from epidural steroid injections can last from a few weeks to several months, and we may recommend trying it for conditions like sciatica, radiculopathy, and spinal stenosis causing nerve compression.
Spinal cord stimulation uses electrical impulses to interrupt pain signals traveling to your brain, and although it’s a minimally invasive procedure, it is more permanent than other options. We place a small electrode near your spinal cord that sends mild electrical stimulation to "scramble" pain signals before they reach your brain.
With spinal cord stimulation, you can achieve significantly reduced or even eliminated pain without medication. This option can work well for people with chronic nerve pain that hasn't responded to other treatments, particularly those with chronic sciatica, neuropathy, and complex regional pain syndrome.
Chronic nerve pain can interfere with your quality of life, but treatment can offer relief — and it doesn’t have to be major surgery to make a difference. The right treatment depends on your specific nerve pain condition, its location, its severity, and your goals.
At Interventional Spine and Pain Institute, we assess your pain, determine its cause, and recommend the treatment most likely to provide meaningful relief for your specific situation. Contact us to discuss minimally invasive options that could finally free you from nerve pain.
