A lumbar selective nerve root block (SNRB) is an injection into the lower back to treat and diagnose inflamed spinal nerves. This treatment consists of injecting a steroid around the nerve root to reduce inflammation. If the nerve becomes irritated after the numbing process, your doctor can use this information to diagnose your lower back pain and determine a new treatment plan.
Your doctor may suggest you undergo a selective nerve root block injection if you are experiencing issues that irritate or pinch the nerves due to mechanical compression, such as:
You may undergo multiple therapeutic nerve root injections if more than one nerve is causing pain.
Lumbar selective nerve block injections are minimally invasive procedures, and patients can return home the same day. If you choose to undergo a lumbar nerve root injection, you will start the procedure by lying on your stomach. We will use an X-ray to pinpoint the specific nerve root.
Once we locate the specific nerve, we will clean the area with an antiseptic solution before injecting a local anesthetic to numb the skin. Once the skin is numb, we will continue with the nerve root block by injecting the steroid. Most patients report only feeling a little pressure at the injection site.
After the SNRB injection, you must remain at the office for an additional 15 to 20 minutes for our team to monitor you and ensure you are not experiencing any side effects. Most patients begin feeling relief a few days after and continue experiencing relief for weeks to months. If you do not feel any relief in one to two weeks, your doctor may perform another injection.
At New York Spine Institute, we provide exceptional medical care to diagnose and treat a wide variety of bone and neurological disorders of the spine. We operate under the vision of our founder and medical director, Alexandre B. de Moura, MD, FAAOS, by offering some of the most comprehensive medical care in the tri-state area while treating all patients with the highest level of compassion.
Our team of specialists consists of experts in their fields, which allows us to provide a high level of care to our patients.
We take an innovative approach to our personalized care solutions and can combine conservative treatment and surgery to meet patient needs and lifestyles.
Many members of our staff can speak languages such as Spanish, German, Italian and Russian to lower the barriers to effective medical care.
Restore your quality of life with a lumbar selective nerve root block injection from the New York Spine Institute. Our team is happy to discuss your treatment options and walk you through every step of the procedure so you can schedule your injection with confidence. Schedule a consultation with one of our specialists to learn if a diagnostic nerve root injection is right for you.
