Medial Branch Block Nerves are the small nerves that feed out (and often carry pain signals) from the facet joints in the spine to the brain. The Medial Branch Nerve Block Procedure temporarily interrupts the pain signal being carried from a specific facet joint. This procedure also takes anywhere from 5-15 minutes.

There are many varieties of conditions that can lead to inflammation of the facet joints such as spinal stenosis or osteoarthritis. Even a car accident injury can cause Medial Branch pain. A local anesthetic is placed in the facet joint area to numb the surrounding tissue. A larger needle is then strategically placed into the Medial Branch nerves and injected with an anesthetic to soothe and relieve pain.