Wow, I haven't had that done either. Same as Marilee I have had Marcain (sp?) in trigger points, but not a block. Sound like they want to get you some fast relief. Keep us posted.
Tracy
I've had trigger point injections done, but never nerve blocks before. I found that the trigger point injections I get last for a few days.
A friend of mine gets nerve blocks for something other than migraines. She gets two types done. One type lasts about a week and one type lasts about a month. She goes every week to get them done, but depending on the week she will get different ones done... so usually she gets the kind that lasts a week done (they do them high up on her back)... and then once a month she gets the kind done that lasts a month. I go with her sometimes.
When I watched her get the kind that lasts for a month, it looked like she was getting an epidural. The rubbed lots of what looked like dye on her back but it wasn't really dye it was a numbing/disinfecting agent. Then they put the needle into what I think was her spine I guess because it was the very middle of her back. She seemed fine for the whole thing (I guess it's not painful because of the numbing liquid they put on first) and she was ready to go home soon afterward. She is always sleepy after she gets it done and can't really hang out on those days. Oh, she has to go to the hospital to get that done, she even gets a hospital ID bracelet put on even though she has an appointment. I've never got a hospital ID bracelet put on when I've had an appointment at the hospital before... but they always put one on her I think... so it always looks like something has happened to her and I get worried if I see her after she's been, I'll say "oh no! what happened!" and then she'll say "oh, nothing, I'm okay, I just got my shots today." Oh, I just remembered, sometimes that will last for up to three months... I think it used to always last for up to three months... it's just now she gets it done more often (neuropathy can be a degenerative disease and it appears to be in her case).
The other kinds of nerve blocks she gets are more simple. She still has to go to the hospital but she goes to someone's office on hospital grounds instead of the ACTUAL hospital. They get done all over her upper back and she gets lots of them I think because there are usually lots of bandaids. They're sort of painful getting them done I think... the waiting room at that office isn't a fun place to be... to be honest. But I think that partly has to do with the fact that most of the people who get them done are in 24/7 pain to begin with anyway so things are just generally more painful. I don't think they use any sort of numbing cream. The needles look longer than the needles they use at the pain clinic I go to to get my trigger point injections... so I think they must go in deeper maybe? I don't really understand it though because I haven't really asked or paid attention. (I zone out a bit when stuff is happening to my friends.) They only last for a week at the longest... and I can tell when it is getting close to Monday if I am spending time with her because she will be in more pain the closer it gets to Monday and in a LOT of pain if she ever misses an appointment.
Okay...
As for what YOU are getting done!
The needle will be VERY THIN. It will go into your neck. A local anesthetic WILL be used before the needle goes in so you shouldn't feel the needle at all (or hardly at all). You, like my friend after her nerve blocks, will probably want to rest for the rest of the day. Even if you don't want to rest... you still probably should take it easy and I bet your doctor will instruct you to take it easy for 24 hours. It should work pretty much immediately to help relieve your pain. But... since I've never had it done or know anyone who has had it done, I have no idea about how long it works for... sorry! Maybe if it is similar to the thing my friend gets done every month it might last a month? But that is just a guess?
Let me know if you get it done and how long it works for you, I am very interested in this! :)
Thanks! :)