Pain – Treatment Options

Transcript

In addition, we use the kinds of medications that I was referring to earlier; the medicines that have the ability to alter the function of the nervous system, anticonvulsants antidepressants, sometimes medicines that might be used even to control blood pressure. But again, we’re using them because of their nervous system effects. We also at times may use nerve blocks. These are injections where we will inject anesthetic medicines on top of nerves to shut down the function of the nerve. Now, this is temporary. It’s never permanent solution, but it almost acts like rebooting a computer. And so even after the effect has worn off, we often see that the pain when it returns, is not as severe, not as intense. And so sometimes a series of blocks can provide significant relief to a patient.