What a Nerve Block Can Tell Your Doctor About Your Pain

If you’ve been living with chronic pain and still don’t have clear answers, you’re not alone. Many patients come to us after trying physical therapy or other treatments without lasting relief. That’s where interventional pain management and our interventional pain management services can make a real difference, not just by easing symptoms, but by helping identify the exact source of your pain.

At Goodman Campbell, nerve blocks are part of a precise, evidence-based diagnostic process. Our aim is to uncover the root cause of your pain, not merely mask it.

In plain terms, a nerve block is a small, targeted injection of numbing medication placed near a specific nerve. Nerve blocks can serve two important purposes: they can help identify the source of your pain and, when used therapeutically, provide targeted pain relief. When we use a nerve block to pinpoint where your pain is coming from, we call it a diagnostic nerve block. When the goal is to reduce pain and improve function, it is considered a therapeutic nerve block. Both approaches are valuable tools in interventional pain care and can help guide a treatment plan tailored to your needs. 

The mechanism is simple. We place a local anesthetic right next to a specific nerve, and that medication temporarily numbs the nerve so it stops relaying pain signals to your brain. If your usual pain quiets down while the anesthetic is working, that nerve or the structure it serves is very likely the culprit. If nothing changes, we’ve learned something just as valuable and keep looking.

A diagnostic nerve block is a targeted nerve block injection used as a diagnostic tool. Instead of simply providing pain relief, it serves as a diagnostic tool that helps your care team determine which nerve, joint, or spinal structure may be causing your symptoms. 

In many cases, a spine surgeon may recommend a diagnostic nerve block when imaging studies and physical examination findings do not tell the full story. The information gained from the injection can help confirm whether a specific area is responsible for your pain and may play an important role in treatment planning, including determining whether surgery is likely to address your symptoms. 

Using imaging guidance, an interventional pain management physician places a small amount of local anesthetic at a precise injection site, near a specific nerve or affected nerve. If your pain improves, it tells us that the nerve is likely responsible for sending those pain signals.

A therapeutic nerve block is designed to provide longer-lasting pain relief and help reduce inflammation.

A diagnostic nerve block, on the other hand, is about clarity. It helps answer questions such as:

Often, both approaches work together as part of a larger treatment plan.

Pain doesn’t always originate where you feel it. For example, nerve pain in the hip may actually stem from the spinal column. By temporarily interrupting pain messages along a particular nerve, we can see how your body responds. If your symptoms improve, we’ve likely identified the exact source.

This is exactly why a nerve block for back pain or stubborn hip discomfort can be so revealing. Pain felt in the hip or buttock often traces back to an irritated nerve root or facet joint in the spine, and a diagnostic block helps us confirm where it truly begins so we treat the real source rather than the symptom.

This is especially helpful in chronic back pain diagnosis, where multiple structures, such as discs, joints, or peripheral nerves, may be involved.

Your nerve block results guide the next steps:

Either way, the information moves your care forward.

We also look for an objective benchmark, not just a general sense of “better.” A positive diagnostic block is typically judged by a marked reduction in pain during the anesthetic’s window. Little or no relief redirects our search to another structure, which is just as important a finding.

There are several types of nerve blocks we use in interventional spine care, including:

Each is chosen based on your symptoms and suspected pain conditions.

These procedures are performed on an outpatient basis, so you can go home the same day. We’ll ask you to track your symptoms closely. Specifically, we want to understand how much relief you feel, how long it lasts, and how it affects your daily activities. This feedback is critical in shaping your treatment options.

This information is an important part of the diagnostic process. Your response to the injection helps confirm whether a specific nerve, joint, or other spinal structure is responsible for your pain and helps guide the most appropriate treatment plan. 

In some cases, we may recommend additional nerve blocks to confirm findings or further refine your spine pain diagnosis.

Diagnostic nerve blocks are among the most established procedures in interventional pain care, and they’re considered very safe when performed by an experienced team. Because we use only a small amount of local anesthetic placed precisely under imaging guidance, side effects tend to be mild and temporary, and may include brief soreness at the injection site or short-lived numbness or weakness in the area while the anesthetic is active. 

As with any injection, less common risks include minor bleeding, infection, or a reaction to the medication, which is one more reason it matters who performs your block and how carefully the site is prepared.

Here’s what to expect: the visit is quick and done on an outpatient basis, we numb the skin first, and you head home the same day. From there, your job is simply to notice how your body responds so we can turn that feedback into a clear plan. You can learn more about the full range of our spine care and how a diagnostic block fits into it. 

Yes. In some cases, diagnostic nerve blocks are used to help determine whether surgery is likely to address the source of a patient’s symptoms. 

If a nerve block provides significant relief, it can help confirm that a specific nerve root, joint, or spinal structure is the pain generator. This information gives your care team greater confidence in recommending the most appropriate treatment, whether that involves continued conservative care, interventional pain management, or surgery. 

Precision matters.

Our interventional team has highly specialized training in the neck, spine, and nervous system, providing extensive, focused expertise. We understand how every structure in the spine connects and can contribute to pain.

We’re also proud to offer world-class neurosurgery expertise right here in Indiana, meaning that you don’t have to travel far for advanced care. As a global leader in back and spine care, we treat everything from straightforward cases to complex spine conditions. Our approach is backed by proven patient outcomes and efficacy data, and because you have direct access to our team, your care stays coordinated, clear, and focused on results.

If you’re ready to move beyond uncertainty and understand what’s truly causing your pain, Goodman Campbell is here to help. Request an appointment with our spine team to take the next step toward answers and lasting relief.

No. A diagnostic nerve block is a diagnostic tool, not a structural cure. It localizes and confirms the source of your pain and can offer temporary relief while the local anesthetic is active, but it doesn’t remove structural compression like a disc pressing on a nerve root.

Yes. Pain doesn’t always originate where you feel it, and hip or buttock pain frequently stems from an irritated nerve root or facet joint in the lower spine. A diagnostic nerve block helps us tell true hip-joint pain from spine-referred pain so we can treat the real source.

Most patients tolerate the procedure well. We numb the skin first, use imaging guidance for precise placement, and the injection itself is brief. You may feel a quick pinch or some pressure. It’s an outpatient procedure, and you go home the same day.

You’ll often notice how you respond within the first hours, while the local anesthetic is active. We ask you to track how much relief you feel, how long it lasts, and how it affects your daily activities, and then we review that feedback together to plan your next step.