Selective nerve root block.
Find the exact nerve. Then treat it.
When the imaging is ambiguous or your symptoms span multiple levels, an SNRB isolates the single spinal nerve causing your radicular pain — both diagnostically and therapeutically.
Pin down which nerve, with precision.
A selective nerve root block (SNRB) delivers a small volume of local anesthetic — sometimes combined with corticosteroid — directly around a single, specific spinal nerve root as it exits the spine. Unlike a broader epidural injection, the SNRB tests one nerve at a time. When your MRI shows degenerative changes at multiple levels but the pain pattern is unclear, the SNRB is how we determine which level matters.
Fluoroscopic guidance with contrast confirmation.
You are positioned prone. The skin is numbed. Under live fluoroscopy, a thin needle is advanced to the target foramen where the nerve root exits the spine. Contrast confirms the medication will track along the correct nerve and nowhere else. The injection itself is a few seconds. The whole appointment is thirty to forty-five minutes.
Used when imaging and symptoms do not perfectly align.
SNRB is most useful when MRI shows changes at multiple levels, when the dermatomal pain pattern crosses nerve territories, or when conservative measures have not produced clarity about which structure is generating the pain. It is also a reasonable therapeutic option for patients who get strong, durable relief from corticosteroid in the nerve sleeve.
Immediate anesthetic effect. Steroid response over days.
You should feel relief in the leg or arm within minutes — the anesthetic effect. That information is diagnostic. The corticosteroid component, if used, builds over three to seven days and can provide weeks to months of relief. Return to normal activity the same day, with no heavy lifting for forty-eight hours.
Stop accepting the downtime.
Treat the exact nerve, not a guess. Schedule a consultation at any Triumph location.