When to Consider a Nerve Block for Your Headaches

Do you have recurrent cluster headaches or severe migraine episodes that could benefit from next-level interventional pain management care? Learn how a nerve block works to provide instant relief that lasts — and find out how you can benefit.

For the average person who gets the occasional headache, treatment rarely requires more than rest and taking an OTC pain reliever. But for those who suffer from recurrent headache pain or migraine disorder, a comprehensive management plan is essential. Tailored to the individual, a headache “action plan” offers detailed guidance on how to:

Determine and avoid personal headache triggers
Treat an acute headache or migraine when it arises
Know when a severe headache requires urgent care
Reduce headache or migraine occurrence over time

Another important aspect of headache management? Knowing when you might benefit from next-level care, including interventional pain relief procedures like a nerve block.

Here, Dr. Okezie N. Okezie of Interventional Sports and Pain Management Associates discusses how a nerve block works to treat chronic pain, and explains when he may recommend one to help alleviate recurrent headaches.

Next-level pain relief with nerve blocks

A nerve block injection, also known as a neural blockade, delivers a local anesthetic along with an anti-inflammatory steroidal medication directly into an area where a specific nerve or nerve bundle is presumed to be the underlying cause of a chronic pain problem.

By inducing a temporary state of localized anesthesia — or the loss of sensation in an irritated nerve — this minimally invasive pain management approach aims to deliver fast, effective relief for ongoing pain conditions that aren’t responding well to other therapies and interventions. Dr. Okezie can use nerve blocks to alleviate:

Chronic headache or migraine episodes
Back, neck, and herniated disc injuries
Severe arthritis-related joint degeneration
Accident-related injuries and trauma
Peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage)
Chronic regional pain syndrome (CRPS)

When Dr. Okezie injects an anesthetic medication directly into an area where ongoing nerve irritation is triggering chronic or recurrent pain signals, the medicine blocks the transmission of these signals so they can’t reach your brain. If pain signals aren’t received by your brain, you don’t feel the sensations they were trying to transmit.

Can a nerve block help my headaches?

A nerve block can be a beneficial pain management approach when you’re dealing with recurrent or severe headaches that aren’t responding as expected to standard treatment strategies. Headache types that are most responsive to nerve blocks include:

A nerve block can also provide effective relief for persistent cervicogenic headaches, or headaches that arise from a problem in your neck (i.e., muscle strain, pinched nerve, disc problem).

Dr. Okezie uses an occipital nerve block to alleviate headache pain. The occipital nerve is actually a group of six nerves in the back of your head; there are three occipital nerves on the right side, and three more on the left side. These nerves supply sensation to specific parts of your head — including pain when they’re irritated.

So, when should you consider a nerve block for your headaches? When:

Your usual preventive treatment approach is no longer working
Your headaches occur often enough to interfere with daily life
You need immediate relief from a severe or persistent headache

By gaining detailed insight into how your headaches affect you — including exactly where you usually feel their gripping pain — Dr. Okezie can create an exacting treatment plan that targets the corresponding occipital nerve area with precision.

Pain reliever, diagnostic tool, or both?

The main advantages of a nerve block injection are its immediacy and lasting duration: The anti-inflammatory medication takes effect quickly and provides sustained relief that lasts for a few days up to several weeks, depending on your individual response to the treatment.

A nerve block can also be used diagnostically, to help pinpoint the source of your pain with greater accuracy.

When Dr. Okezie injects the anesthetic near the suspected source of your pain, the results of the treatment can help him determine if your headache pain is indeed coming from that occipital nerve — or if it appears to originate elsewhere. This information can help inform a more targeted treatment plan going forward.

Nerve block injections: What to expect

You might worry about receiving an injection in a painful area, but we use a local anesthetic to minimize needle discomfort, and when needed, IV sedation to help reduce anxiety and make the procedure more comfortable. For most people, the anticipation of the injection is far more nerve-racking than the treatment itself.

Dr. Okezie uses ultrasound imaging or fluoroscopy (live X-ray) to visualize the problematic nerve and guide the injection with precision. Some nerve block procedures require multiple injections, but most are well tolerated and brief, lasting 5-15 minutes.

\Wondering if a nerve block should be part of your headache management plan? We can help. Call your nearest Interventional Sports and Pain Management Associates office in Humble or Baytown, Texas, today, or click online to schedule a visit with Dr. Okezie at your convenience.