Column Treatment Progress Report No.184: A Patient Who Was Experiencing Reduced Effectiveness With Nerve Block Injections
October 11, 2025
The patient
A male patient in his 40s
Treated in March 2024. Approximately 12 months have passed since treatment.
Symptoms and treatments to date
Imaging revealed a lumbar disc herniation at L4/L5 (indicated by the red frame) and disc degeneration at L5/S1.
Pre-treatment medical history and treatments to date
The patient had a history of playing baseball during school years, occasionally experiencing mild back pain, which he continued to tolerate while remaining active.
In 2022, he suffered an episode of acute lower back pain (lumbago) while getting out of bed.
He was diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation at a local orthopedic clinic and received conservative treatment at a pain clinic, including nerve block injections. However, over time, the effect of these injections diminished, and his symptoms persisted.
The patient visited our clinic seeking to improve her symptoms.
Post-treatment progress
The table below shows the results of the patient’s own evaluation of the pain in each body site on a scale of 0 to 10.
No pain at all is rated as 0 and 10 as the maximum possible pain.
| Lower back | Lower limbs | Numbness | Buttocks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before treatment | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| 1 week after treatment | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 month after treatment | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 months after treatment | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 months after treatment | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The following is feedback from the patient when contacted for follow-up.
1 Week Post-Treatment: Felt some discomfort with movement, but the pain and numbness symptoms were gone.
1 Month Post-Treatment: Noted that the effect of the previous nerve block injections had worn off, but his symptoms were still better than before the Cellgel treatment.
3 Months Post-Treatment: Daily life is fine, but sometimes experiences low back pain or other symptoms when lifting heavy objects at work.
6 Months Post-Treatment: Daily life continues without issue. The frequency of symptoms occurring at work has also decreased.
This patient was diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation. When symptoms are severe and cause issues in daily life, surgical removal of the herniation is often proposed. This patient, however, had been controlling his pain with medication/injections at a pain clinic.
Since surgical intervention would require hospitalization and impact his work, he chose treatment at our clinic.
The outcome has been highly favorable—he was able to return to work without significant issues, and his symptoms have remained stable over the long term.
The patient is delighted with the positive outcome, and we are happy for him too.
* Results vary among individuals. Please be aware that identical outcomes cannot be guaranteed.
* It generally takes 3 weeks to 3 months for treatment effects to appear.
Our Treatment Method
Supplementary Information on the Cellgel Method
Cost of the Cergel Method:
¥1,320,000 / 1 site (tax included)
to ¥1,760,000 / 5 sites (tax included)
Risks and Side Effects:
Temporary pain may occur after treatment.
Nerve injury is theoretically possible due to the nature of the procedure, but no such cases have been reported in our own experience or in published studies.
Extremely rare risk of allergic reaction to local anesthetic.
Symptoms may temporarily worsen for 1–2 weeks after treatment, believed to be due to decompression effects of the implant pulling on surrounding tissue.
If the disc is severely collapsed or nearly gone, treatment may not be possible.
The physician will discuss suitable treatment options with each patient depending on their condition.
For more detailed information, please refer to the following links:
Blog page explaining the Cellgel Method in an easy-to-understand manner
The Cellgel Method on our treatment methods page
This article was written by the administrative Director of our clinic
