Nerve Procedures
Sympathetic Nerve Blocks
A sympathetic nerve block places numbing medication near the sympathetic nerves that help control blood flow and other automatic functions. It is used to diagnose and manage burning limb pain with color or temperature changes, including CRPS, and blocks are often given as a series, each building on the last.
Request an AppointmentWhat is a Sympathetic
Nerve Block?
The sympathetic nerves are part of the autonomic nervous system, the network that controls blood flow, sweating, temperature, and certain pain responses without you thinking about it. Sometimes, that network itself keeps chronic pain alive.
A sympathetic nerve block is an injection of numbing medication near a group of these nerves. Temporarily blocking them may reduce pain signals and related symptoms, and if your pain improves after the block, it tells your provider the pain is sympathetically mediated.
The block is placed where your pain lives: a lumbar sympathetic block in the lower back for leg or foot symptoms, or a stellate ganglion block in the neck for the arm, hand, shoulder, face, or neck.
Relief varies: some patients have short-term relief, others longer-lasting improvement. If the first block helps, a series of blocks may be considered, with each treatment building on the last.
Conditions like complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) are notoriously hard to treat. Dr. Nair uses sympathetic blocks to both confirm the diagnosis and begin calming the system driving it.
Your response to the block tells your provider whether the sympathetic nerves are driving your pain, guiding everything after.
Lumbar blocks treat lower-body symptoms; stellate ganglion blocks in the neck reach the arm, shoulder, face, and hand.
The procedure itself takes around half an hour, followed by recovery monitoring, and you head home the same day.
When the first block works, additional blocks may extend relief further with each treatment.
Am I a candidate for a sympathetic nerve block?
When the nervous system itself keeps pain alive, we block it at the switchboard.
Sympathetic nerve blocks may be considered for CRPS, sympathetically mediated pain, certain chronic nerve pain conditions, circulation-related pain, or persistent limb pain after injury or surgery. These symptoms overlap with other conditions, so a full evaluation comes first.
Burning Pain
Persistent burning pain, often out of proportion to the original injury.
Severe Sensitivity to Touch
The affected area may be intensely sensitive to light touch.
Temperature & Color Changes
Skin temperature or color changes in the affected limb.
Swelling & Sweating Changes
Swelling, or changes in sweating, around the affected area.
Pain After Injury or Surgery
Pain that develops or persists after trauma, surgery, or nerve injury.
Pain Resistant to Treatment
Pain that does not respond well to other treatments.
Common questions about sympathetic nerve blocks
A sympathetic nerve block is an injection of numbing medication near sympathetic nerves in the neck or lower back. The goal is to temporarily block sympathetic nerve activity in that area and determine whether those nerves are contributing to your pain.
What is a sympathetic nerve block?
A sympathetic nerve block is an injection of numbing medication near sympathetic nerves in the neck or lower back. The goal is to temporarily block sympathetic nerve activity in that area and determine whether those nerves are contributing to your pain.
Ready when you are.
Quiet the System
Behind the Pain
If burning, sensitivity, or limb pain has resisted every treatment, a sympathetic nerve block can reveal what's driving it, and begin turning it down.
Prefer to talk? Call (502) 995-4004, answered 24/7.
Medically reviewed by Ajith Nair, M.D., Founder & Medical Director at Kentuckiana Pain Specialists. This page is for education and is not a substitute for a personalized medical consultation.
Last medically reviewed July 2026Updated