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Alcohol nerve block

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Posted 8/8/2015 2:40 PM (GMT 0)
Im wondering if someone can tell me their experience with
Alcohol blocks. I had this block in my chest area into a neuroma(painful spot in my muscles under skin) like 4 hours ago, it numbed the area for like an hour or so, my pain was gone but after that its now gotten extremely painful with same pain.

I thought this is supposed to destroy nerve atleast for few months but my pain is already back. Is it supposed to take time or it just didnt work? Thnks
Posted 8/8/2015 3:20 PM (GMT 0)
Nerve blocks are like totally subjective. What kind of relief were you expecting?

I am impressed that your getting this procedure on a Saturday morning. I'd refer you like right back to
whomever gave you the procedure.
Posted 8/8/2015 3:47 PM (GMT 0)
The doctor who did the block said It will stop the nerve from conducting pain, and I will have some numbness around
That area. It worked for an hour, I had almost
complete relief, so I was expecting it to last longer
since its supposed to completely destroy nerve fibres.
Instead my pain is worse at the moment in that
spot. Im in south asian country atm so timings are
Different here.
Posted 8/8/2015 3:57 PM (GMT 0)
Even more impressive as its Sunday in Asia. Direct your question to the Dr. who gave you the procedure, sounds like you didn't get your money's worth if pain relief was promised.
Posted 8/8/2015 11:38 PM (GMT 0)
I had a nerve block with alcohol and radiofrequency both at the same time last fall. Don't know the protocol there in Asia, but here they do one or two short-term tests with short-acting local anesthesia that wears off in a day or less. If that relieves the pain, they know they have the right nerves and proceed.

If they did the procedure without a test first, ask your doctor what to expect, as others have said. It can take a while for the nerves to die. Mine took almost two months, but I think that's a record. It's still working nine months later, though. A few weeks waiting for the nerve to die wouldn't be out of the norm.

The hour of relief might be from a short-acting anesthetic that's worn off. The pain can be worse either because you've just been poked with a needle, which gets better in a few days, or it can be worse while the nerve is dying, until it finally dies. (The nerve doesn't die permanently, but is injured so it can't send pain signals for many months.) Those weeks waiting for it to work were not fun at all, but it was wonderful when it actually worked.

I hope your doctor can better explain what you can expect.
Posted 8/9/2015 7:50 AM (GMT 0)
James explained it eloquently and right on target. The hour relief was likely local anesthesia and nerves just don't suffer immediate death by poison,takes awile and as it dies pain can be worse and anywhere along the nerves pathway. I really hope you are not using substandard Drs for these procedures and I will warn you again as always that mores not always better and often leaving the nerves alone is better than what you could end up with.
Posted 8/12/2015 4:08 PM (GMT 0)
@james thanks for explaining. Unfortunately I think in my case it hasn't worked. I had 3 pulsed rf so far, and they worked by next day even though I heard samething that it can take weeks. I am now back to my regular pain before the alcohol injection so it hasnt had any effect. Maybe I need to get pulsed rf in that spot. I have tried test injections and they worked for like an hour or so.

@nvrthesame, thanks for your suggestion but unfortunately I cant leave it like this because its so severe for me, just to put in perspective I havent worked for 2 years now, ive got into 2 car accidents because I was so consumed by this pain and so many other things. My pain was in a really long area, now its only limited to this one single fingertip spot only because I tried so many things and it helped eventually. also im only 26 years old, I dont want to imagine leaving all my life in this miserable way, maybe if I was atleast 50+ then I could leave it.
I have also consulted with plastic surgeons, they said if nothing else works, they can surgically cut that nerve intercostal or just excise that muscle, skin painful area, but I just want to try injections couple of times more. thanks
Posted 8/13/2015 10:21 AM (GMT 0)
Oh I get it just as likely more than half of us here do,that early frantic search for the right answers the right procedure and even the right Dr to do them. I get the " Omg I'm only this old can't see this being my life from now on! Like countless others here I remember the exact date of my disability award like it was a birthday party rather than a end to a 20 year career at 39 years old. I know the pure unadulterated fear of looking at my 4 young children one only months old and wondering how in God's name I was going to care for them. I recall the countless years I walked all of them to the public transit station in all weather because at 40 I was unfit and unsafe to drive. Upjo I remember the exact moment when I knew my life as I had known it would never be the same in any way. I'm 50+ now but I darn sure wasn't when life threw this at me.

I also recall the countless specialists,the ungodly appointments,the mass of procedures and tests and the depression of having hope dashed when none of them worked. Unfortunately I also recall that sometimes after some of those procedures the pain returned with a vengeance more powerful than before. Then one day I was forced to take stock of my life as it was consumed with all the tests,procedures,Drs and surgeries,consumed to the point I had NO life outside of my search.

When I reached the point of what next,who do I see now and realized that all they were doing was wearing my body out,destroying my mental health by lending hope only to be disappointed I stopped just stopped and came to terms with maybe this is as good as it gets? Maybe the best answer is finding ways to learn to treat this pain the best I can and relearn living with it and then get back to the living.

That's what we do. We don't lose sight of the hope that someday somehow they will find a answer or that we will wake up pain free as quickly as it started but we learn not to let the search consume us,not to allow us to make choices that can be more detrimental to our overall health and live with CHRONIC PAIN. That's why we are here and why we each have a diagnosis of CHRONIC PAIN. Chronic being the key word here,its not likely ever leaving us,better some days than others and treatable to the best point we can by a pain specialist in most of our cases. Are we resigned to the pain and living with it? Naturally we are we had to be or be consumed to that point of endangering our health by off the wall procedures and yes you can always find Drs willing to try anything as long as your pockets are deep enough but is your health and well being his priority? Rarely.

I know you think you can't live with it but millions of people live with chronic pain and conditions everyday and once you concentrate on treating and controlling your acceptance gets better never completely accepted but enough you can live with it. Sometimes there just are NO answers,no treatment protocol or procedure that can cure the cause so you have to turn your attention to treating the pain.

I wish you all the luck in the world in your endeavors but don't think we don't get it and don't ever think that chronic pain has age limits we have many people younger than you when they were thrown on this road. It knows no age,race,gender or socioeconomic status.
Posted 8/13/2015 10:31 PM (GMT 0)
"I have also consulted with plastic surgeons, they said if nothing else works, they can surgically cut that nerve intercostal..."

Back when I had the nerve block, I wondered why the intercostal nerve couldn't just be cut, rather than have a temporary block that would wear off in a few months or a year when the nerve healed. It was explained to me that cutting the nerve could result in phantom nerve pain, like people have after amputations, because of course their nerves are entirely cut. I was told that phantom nerve pain can be quite severe and would be as hard or harder to treat than the original pain.

I don't know if phantom pain is a risk in every case, or if the plastic surgeons know how to avoid it, or if research has progressed, but it's just something to ask about before having the nerve cut.
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