01Before a procedure
The week leading up to it
Five points, in the order they come up. The blood-thinner one is the most important, and the one most often forgotten.
- 01
One week before
Tell us if you take blood-thinning medication. Never stop it yourself — we will confirm with your GP or cardiologist whether it needs holding, and for how long.
- 02
Two days before
Let us know about any infection, fever, or new illness. A procedure through unsettled skin or during an infection is postponed, not risked.
- 03
The day before
Arrange the escort. If sedation is planned you cannot drive, and you cannot travel home alone. Eat and drink normally unless we have told you otherwise.
- 04
The morning of
Take your usual medications with a sip of water unless instructed otherwise. Wear loose clothing you can change out of easily. Leave jewellery at home.
- 05
On arrival
Bring your medication list, your imaging details and your consent form if you were sent one. Allow time for parking and check-in.
02Afterwards
The days that decide the result
A procedure opens a window of lower pain. What happens in that window is what makes the benefit last.
01The first evening
Expect soreness at the injection site. Rest, but do not go to bed for the day. Ice for twenty minutes at a time helps more than heat.
02The first 48 hours
No driving on the day of sedation, no heavy lifting, no swimming or baths while the site is settling. Showers are fine.
03The first two weeks
Keep a simple pain diary — a score out of ten, morning and evening. It is the single most useful thing you can bring to the review.
04Call us if
You develop a fever, spreading redness at the site, new weakness or numbness, or pain markedly worse than before. These are uncommon, and we want to hear early.
ToolPain diary
Two numbers a day, for two weeks
It sounds trivial and it changes reviews entirely. Print the grid, keep it by the kettle, and bring it with you — it turns “a bit better, I think” into something we can act on.
Australia Pain Management · Pain diary
Score at the same two times each day. Note flare-ups and what preceded them.
03Consent, explained
The words on the form, in plain English
Consent is a conversation, not a signature. Here is what the recurring terms mean before anyone asks you to agree to them.
Diagnostic block
A small, temporary injection used to answer a question — does the pain come from here? The relief is meant to be short. Short relief is a useful result, not a failed treatment.
Image guidance
The needle is placed under X-ray or ultrasound so it goes exactly where it is intended, and nowhere else. It is why these procedures are done in a procedure room rather than a consulting room.
Sedation
Medication to make you drowsy and comfortable. You stay breathing on your own and can respond to us. It is not a general anaesthetic, and it is why you need an escort home.
Informed consent
A conversation, not a signature. We tell you what is proposed, what it is likely to do, what it might not do, and what could go wrong — then you decide, and you can change your mind.
Risk stated as a number
Where a figure is known for a procedure, it is written on that procedure's page rather than described as 'rare'. Where a figure is genuinely uncertain, we say so.
04Worth reading
Independent sources, not ours
Four places we send people. No commercial pages, no products, nothing that benefits this practice.
Understanding pain
Faculty of Pain Medicine
Patient-facing explanations written by the UK specialty body for pain medicine.
Opioids Aware
Faculty of Pain Medicine
The reference used across the UK for opioid benefit, harm and safe reduction.
Chronic pain overview
NHS
Plain-language starting point, including self-management and when to seek help.
Live Well with Pain
Independent programme
Practical self-management tools, including pacing and flare-up planning.
05Begin
Still unsure about something?
Ask before the day rather than on it. Questions asked ahead are the reason most procedure days run calmly.
Visit
Level 2, 48 Macquarie StreetSydney, NSW 2000Response
Enquiries are answered within one to two business days. Urgent clinical matters are triaged the same day by the practice team.