Advanced Treatment for Facial Pain

Facial pain can result from various conditions, including trigeminal neuralgia, , occipital neuralgia, or cervicogenic headaches, causing sharp, burning, or chronic discomfort. At North Shore Pain Management, we specialize in diagnosing and treating facial pain with personalized, non-surgical therapies designed to target the underlying cause and provide lasting relief. From advanced nerve blocks to minimally invasive procedures, our expert team is dedicated to helping you regain comfort and improve your quality of life.

Treatment Options

Trigeminal Nerve Blocks for Facial Pain Relief

Trigeminal nerve blocks are a minimally invasive treatment designed to relieve chronic facial pain caused by conditions like trigeminal neuralgia and migraines. This procedure involves injecting a local anesthetic and sometimes anti-inflammatory medication near the trigeminal nerve to block pain signals from reaching the brain. Trigeminal nerve blocks provide both diagnostic insight and therapeutic relief, offering patients significant pain reduction and improved quality of life.

Learn more about how trigeminal nerve blocks can help manage your facial pain at North Shore Pain Management.

Comprehensive Care for Occipital Neuralgia

Occipital neuralgia is a chronic headache disorder caused by irritation or injury to the greater, lesser, or third occipital nerves. This condition leads to sharp, shooting pain that radiates from the back of the head to the scalp, forehead, and sometimes the eyes. Common triggers include head or neck trauma, poor posture, or cervical spine conditions.

At North Shore Pain Management, we offer targeted treatment like occipital nerve blocks to relieve pain and restore comfort.

What is an Occipital Nerve Block (ONB)?

An Occiptal Nerve Block (ONB) is an injection of local anesthetic medication next to the greater and lesser occipital nerves, which are located just beneath the scalp in the back of the head. Since these nerves are superficial, just below the skin. This block does not involve brain surgery. This type of injection blocks both the greater and lesser occipital nerves, and is useful in diagnosing and treating a condition known as occipital neuralgia. When treating occipital neuralgia or various other painful conditions, a steroid medication is added to the local anesthetic medication. The block may be done on either the left or right side of the back of the head, or both as indicated. The goal of this procedure is to relieve or reduce pain in the back of the head in the scalp. If you respond to the first injection, you may require repeat injections. Usually, a series of such injections is needed to treat the problem. Some patients may need two or 3 injections, and others may require more. Response to this type of injection will be individual. However, patients who are treated earlier in the course of their illness, tend to respond better than those who have this treatment after 6 months of experiencing symptoms.

If you do not get relief from the injection, you may not have occipital neuralgia. This means that the pain in the occipital region (in the back or back and side of your head) may not be due to damage or dysfunction of the occipital nerves. If this is the case, your physician may choose to order different testing to identify or diagnose the cause of your pain.

How long does the ONB procedure take?

This procedure takes about 10 minutes.

Will the injection hurt?

The procedure involves inserting a needle through the skin, beneath the scalp and moving the needle in a fan-shaped pattern to block both occipital nerves. Some discomfort may be felt, although each person’s response to any procedure is individual.

What should I expect after the procedure and what are the side effects?

Immediately after the injection, the back of your head may feel warm. You may have a small lump on the back of your head for a few hours to days. In addition, you may notice that your pain may be gone or lessened considerably. An ice pack with a barrier such as a towel between the skin and ice may be used after the procedure is completed to reduce minor swelling. The local anesthetic effect will wear off in a few hours. It is important that you keep track of the amount of pain relief you received as well as how long the pain relief lasted.

What should I do after the procedure?

We recommend patients avoid strenuous activities for a day following the procedure; however, you may perform other normal activities as tolerated. You should be able to return to work the next day. You may experience some soreness at the injection site, and you may use an ice pack with a barrier such as a towel to help relieve this as needed.

Effective Relief for Cervicogenic Headaches

At North Shore Pain Management, we understand that headaches can stem from various underlying causes. Cervicogenic headaches (CGH) are a secondary type of headache caused by cervical spine issues. This chronic, recurring pain often worsens with neck movement and can radiate from the neck to the forehead, temples, or behind the eye.

Our team specializes in diagnosing and treating CGH with personalized care plans, including advanced therapies like cervical medial branch blocks & cervical RFL to restore comfort and improve mobility.

What is a Medial Branch Block?

A diagnostic Medial Branch Block is an injection of local anesthetic (numbing medicine) around the small nerve that supplies the spinal facet joint. This nerve is called the medial branch to the facet joint. Patients will often have more than one joint injected at a time. Medial branch blocks are used to determine if pain is from arthritic changes in the facet joints.

What are the pre-requisites in order to perform this procedure?

Patients will be asked to fast for 6 hrs for food and 2 hrs for clear liquids.

How long does the Medial Branch Block procedure take?

The procedure takes about 10 minutes.

Will the procedure hurt?

Mild sedation may be administered to ease any anxiety; however, general anesthesia is not an option or necessary.  The physician will inject local anesthetic to numb the area prior to placing the needle through the skin.

What should I expect after the procedure and what are the side effects?

Patients back or neck pain may be improved immediately after the injection from the local anesthetic medication. It is very important to keep track of how patients feel for the rest of the day, because this helps us determine the cause and location of patients’ pain.

What should I do after the procedure?

Be active for the day of the procedure. Do not rest or relax. We need patients to be active so we can tell if the injection is helpful.  After the numbing agent wears off, some localized tenderness may be experienced for a couple of days after the injection. Using an ice pack with a barrier such as a towel between the skin and ice, for 20-30 minutes three or four times a day will help this. It is important that patients keep track of the amount of pain relief in the area being targeted, as well as how long the pain relief lasted.