Health Organization for Pudendal Education

hi
i will be having my first pn block in the near future and i wondered what to expect when having the proceedure.
it will be in dr greenslades office during a consult, or so i believe, he did show me the machine he uses which is similar to the type of thing you have with a pregnancy scan but it also lights up in different colours, i presume thats so he knows where to put the needle.
is it painful and will i have any type of sedation or pain relief and how long will it take.
sorry for all the questions but dr greenslade never said
thanks
andrea

Hi Andrea,
Mine was piriformis so don't know where he will inject for you sorry. Yes it's an ultra scan type machine. They put a gel on me (bum in my case) and tried to locate my piriformis muscle. Dr G knows exactly what he is doing and I'm sure has done many pudendal injections as he studied with Prof Robert about 4 years ago now.
Mine did hurt, but only when it got to my piriformis, but that was only because my p muscle is SO tight. I had no initial anaesthetic but the steroid injection includes this. I know mine is different but saw you were posting, hopefully others will give a better answer.
Helen

Hi Andrea

I have had an unguided block transvaginally where i am sore at the ischial spine - if it is a similar big needle for a guided one just don't look at it - i didn't. It didn't hurt much or take long. The area went numb afterwards but i didn't get any pain relief - this may have been because it was unguided. I had no sedation and didn't need it.

I was told afterwards to be careful with walking as other nerves can be affected but this wears off - i was ok though.

I have seen Dr Greenslade - he didn't do my block but i am sure he will explain everything to you on the day - if not i would ask him about anything you are worried about - he was kind and patient with all my questions.

Rosemary x

Hi Andrea,
You may want to check out this thread: http://www.pudendalhope.info/forum/viewforum.php?f=5.
I know it's a lot of information, but to summarize, the results and responses vary. The procedure itself usually doesn't take more than 30 minutes. Depending on who the physician is, you may be able to have sedation prior to the procedure.
Kind regards,
Karyn

I had sedation for my blocks, the advantages being that you don't feel pain or anxiety while having them. I've read that the disadvantages of sedation are that it's much harder to tell if the blocks are effective while the effects of the sedation wear off: it is apparently easier to know if the blocks have worked if you are fully conscious for the period immediately after the block.

Alan1646 wrote:I had sedation for my blocks, the advantages being that you don't feel pain or anxiety while having them

I had sedation with my second set of blocks, too, and it was very helpful with the pain during the injections. You're correct Alan - you can't be completely "knocked out" during the procedure, as you have to be concious enough to be able to tell the anesthesiologist where you're feeling the needle.

There is this Andrea from Dr Antolack and how he does that procedure. Sorry if it all sounds fairly grim, but you did ask
Good job you can't run for the hills to escape (sorry, again)
I'm sure you could ring the pain clinic and the secretary will be able to pass on Dr G's process.
Oh btw you won't see the ultra sound screen, well I didn't, (tho would quite have liked to) as face down also didn't see needle as Rosemary mentioned but wouldn't look even if it was a teensy injection in my arm, as would probably faint and cause chaos!
I do hope you are not worrying about it. I hope it works for you
Take care
Helen

thanks to all of you, really not looking forward to this but it has to be done.
at the moment i am having a bad flare but not sure why, the only thing i can think of is that i was a bit silly and did some squatting to look for something under the tele, could that cause a flare?
i will let you know when i am having the block and then maybe you can all give me some encouragement
andrea

Yes, squatting could certainly cause a nasty pain flare. I hope you're feeling better, soon!

chillijava wrote:i will let you know when i am having the block and then maybe you can all give me some encouragement

Best wishes, Andrea. We're here for you!

Dear Andrea

By my third visit it was a breeze. I hardly felt a thing. But I was anxious before the first time as I had no idea what kind of experience it would be. I had no sedation, but had local anaesthetic. The injections felt a bit strange, but that's all. As Helen said, you can't really see anything as you are lying face down. I understand that for everyone it will be a bit different, but I think the worst thing was not knowing what to expect...but in the end it was all very calm, gently done...and to be honest by the second time I found myself saying I'd rather have the procedure than the stress of the traffic driving to Bristol!

I hope all goes well for you
Regards
P_M