6 Modified Independence - Patient can be left alone for an entire day but may need some degree of supervision with new or complex activities. Routine activities can be pursued independently. Helper
You may resume normal activities the day after the procedure, unless otherwise directed by your physician. It may take a week or more for you to feel relief after a facet joint injection. Because of the diagnostic nature of a medial branch block, pain relief may start immediately but last only a few hours. Several weeks may be required to feel the full effect of a radiofrequency ablation procedure.
Medial Branch Blocks work by reducing the inflammation and irritation in the facet joints of the spine that are causing your pain. An exciting aspect of this pain relief modality is that if successful, a more long-term treatment option, radiofrequency ablation of the medial branch, can be employed.nother benefit to the use of the Medial Branch Block is its use as a diagnostic test to see if pain is coming from the joint itself. If pain disappears with the injection, it is clear that the pain originates from the joint.