The injection of local anesthetic around a nerve trunk, plexus, or ganglion to block its impulse conduction and produce anesthesia in the area it innervates is called a nerve block. What are the main methods of nerve block treatment? Commonly used nerve block methods are: paracervical injection (which is an injection in the side of the neck); intervertebral foramen injection (which is an injection in the back of the neck); epidural injection (which is also an injection in the back of the neck, but deeper than the intervertebral foramen injection); stellate ganglion block (which is an injection in the front of the neck); and intramuscular injection in the neck. The most commonly used method is the paracervical injection, which is a shot in the side of the neck. This is because there is a transverse process in the bones of the cervical spine, and the doctor can easily find it on the side of the neck, so he can further locate the diseased nerve root. When the drug is successfully injected and takes effect, the nerve root that is inflamed and edematous due to compression is “freed” and the patient’s headache can be relieved. How is the site of the nerve block injection determined? The site of the injection is determined by the location of the headache. Some patients have pain in their eyes or temples, while others have pain in the back of their head. The doctor will find the nerve responsible for “managing” this painful area and then perform the block. The doctor will also make adjustments during the treatment depending on the patient’s condition. What are the drugs injected? What are they used for? There are four main types of drugs that are injected for nerve blocks: local anesthetics, steroid hormones, neurotrophic drugs and ozone. Firstly, local anesthetics can effectively reduce the pain during puncture, and the injected dose is only 1/10~1/5 of the surgical anesthetic dose; secondly, local anesthetics can block the local sympathetic nerves and prevent the transmission of pain signals, thus effectively reducing the headache. The second category is steroidal hormones, whose main function is anti-inflammatory. Many people are afraid that “hormone” is harmful to their bodies, but in fact, this kind of hormone exists in the human body itself, only its content is small, and it cannot reach the effective concentration of treatment at the lesion site, now the doctor makes the concentration of the drug increase at the lesion site through injection, so as to achieve the effect of anti-inflammation. The injected dose is very low and will be metabolized by the body soon after the treatment is finished, so patients do not need to worry too much. Neurotrophic drugs are mainly B vitamins and nerve growth factor, the main role is to nourish the nerves and anti-inflammatory. Although ozone is a gas, it can also be used as a medicine for local injection, and its main function is to eliminate the inflammatory reaction of the lesion. Are there any side effects associated with drug injections? All medications have side effects. Doctors will evaluate whether the medication is more beneficial or harmful to the patient, and there is no need to “choke” on the medication if the relief from the headache far outweighs the side effects. Moreover, the drugs used in nerve block therapy are mainly anti-inflammatory and blood circulation improving drugs, and the doses injected are relatively small, which means that the side effects on the whole body are also less; doctors will also adjust the doses according to the patient’s age and physical condition during the treatment; in short, nerve block therapy under the guidance of a specialist is very safe.