Radio Frequency Nerve Albation

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Pam44

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Has anyone had this done for lower back pain? How long does it take to start helping? I've 1-2 weeks. Does the pain normally get worse before getting better? My mother is unsure about this procedure. She is 65 and in a lot of pain. She is not well enough for surgery.
Thanks.
 
I had this done and I got temporary relief, of 6 weeks. But I know many who it has worked wonderful for and am very glad that I did it. If it works, it takes all the pain away...or at least it did for me. You first have a trial done where they inject the area that they think is the problem, with lanocane. If for the 1st hr. following the trial, you are nurab in your painful area...the actual procedure should work just as well.

After the procedure, the painful area that you have now, should feel the relief of pain, immediately. However, you will probably have muscle spasms, which were pretty bad for me, for 1-2 week. We did finally find a muscle relaxer that worked for me, but I had to try 3 kinRAB before I found the one that worked. If I had known the best one to try for myself, I probably would not have been in pain for the entire 2 weeks.

All in all, it is a great procedure to try, in my opinion. The pain of the procedure and the recovery are bearable, so if it does not work, you have not gone through heck to find that out. If it does work...you would be willing to do it over again. Also, it is a procedure that does not use steroiRAB, so you can have it done over and over again. If it works, it often works for 1-2 years at a time. For me, even though it did not work that long, I was 100% pain free for 6 weeks and the procedure was well worth getting that break. The Dr. thinks it did not work as long for me, because of my auto-immune disorders. So, that probably would not be your situation.

Best of luck to your mom.

Lorie:angel:
 
lfoster 21

I am thinking about having the lurabar medial branch blocks to see if my facet joints are causing my pain and if they are my PM doc is leaning toward the radiofrenquency nerve ablation. I was wondering what doctor prescribed the procedure for you? A PM doc or a spine specialist?

I'm so sorry the procedure did not work for you.
 
I had radio freq. nerve ablation done and it worked wonderfully for me. I wouldn't hesitate to have it done again if I should ever need it. The procedure itself isn't painful as the doctor generally gives you some kind of pain control while he is doing it. Most people get pretty good relief if the doctor has first tested to be sure of where the pain is coming from. My pain management dr. just injected some lidocaine into the SI joint area and sent me off for 3 hours. When I came back and reported great relief, we set up the procedure.

I encourage your mom to give this a try.

Carol
 
Mine was also done by my pain management dr. and even though it did not last as long as i had hoped...I am glad I did it! I would highly recommend the procedure, it's not terribly painful, can last long spouts of time and can not hurt you to have them more often, if needed. It really seems like the way to go...and as Carol mentioned, you have the linocane injected and if it works...its very likly that the RF will also work.

Let you mom know that we are thinking about her.

Lorie:angel:
 
Hello. I don't want to butt in to Pam's thread, but this is something I'm considering for Intercostal Nerve Pain. I've already had nerve blocks 3 times at 4 levels, while the lidocane was in effect the pain was completely gone. What I'd like to know is how long the recovery time is? With the nerve blocks I was able get around at least at a minimal level even the first few days. If it's more than 2-3 days I may need to wait until my hubby is done with his radation treatments and has his strength back or work out a time where my sister can come up for a few days to help out.

Tigg.
 
Hi! I have had this procedure done several times on my lurabar area, and it has helped a lot! As far as recovery, you need to rest/ice for 3-4 days, following the procedure. Then, you can start your normal schedule, but I find that I have to keep taking breaks for about 2-3 weeks after the procedure until it is finally healed. You will get some muscle spasming/joint pain during this healing time and you won't be able to sit/stand/walk as long/far as you will after the burned nerves have settled down. For instance, I had the procedure done on 6/26 and I thought I was doing ok. But, I went on a local field trip with my daughter's school on Wed. and I came home SO sore. So, yesterday I had to rest a lot. Up and down, that is how the recovery goes. It is really worth it for me though, because I can get about 8 months pain relief from this. Hope that helps! Take care, Kera4
 
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