Hi All, had my follow-up appointment with my pain doc, he is recommending that I get lumbar radiogrequency ablation done, he explained the procedure to me all what it entails, my question to all of you is, have any of you had it done and what was your experience with it or do you know of anyone that has had it done and their experiences.
He said to me that since I did have pain relief after my injections for almost 5 hours that, that was a good sign, and that was what he was looking for, and the fact that I'm in more pain now is not a surprise to him.

OK, this procedure burns the tips of the nerves, but what about the bone spurs it doesn't take care of that, so those will continue to grow and cause problems yes or no?.

I'm so tired of procedures, I really don't kow if I want to have this done, I don't know what to do. I feel at a loss as to the right thing to do, I know it's all up to me, but I really don't have many options, or continue on meds the rest of my life and live in daily 24/7 pain like I am.
I know that about 30% of people do not get relief from this procedure, and that it's only to buy me time, so if it buys me time, my disks and the spurs will just continue to get worse am I right or wrong?

Someone please talk some sense into me, my head is spinning, I don't know what to think. I know that I could turn to all of you.
Tulip15

Hi, Tulip.

I had RFA in the thoracic area and I don't have bone spurs, but I did have a herniated disc at the time. The procedure itself wasn't too bad. A little freaky during, but not NEARLY as painful afterwards as injections - for me anyway. I didn't get any pain relief from it, but I'm glad I tried. Maybe think of it this way - if this procedure works, your body can take a break from being in pain and the pain meds and your head can clear. You're right that RFA won't fix anything structurally wrong with you. But pain relief is something very real, right? I can relate to the fatigue of procedures and decision making. I wish you the best in making your decision.

Stay in touch,
Margaret

Tulip was thinking of you, and wondering how the pain was going for you?

Sorry did not know anything about radiofrequency ablation procedure.
You will have to go with your own feelings, if this is going to get you out of pain for a few months, years, who knows, isnt it worth a try. We all tend to grasp at straws for relief. I hope someone on the board will be able to help you.

Regards,

Round 1

Well I've decided to go for it, I will try it, and hope that it works. Talked it over with my husband when he came home from work, and he said I've got nothing to loose, the worse thing is it won't help and if it doesn't then I go on to plan B, and if it helps and gives me pain relief for x-amount of months it's better then the shape I'm in now.

Margaret, sorry you didn't get help with it for you thoracic area, what did help you if any?, and how are you doing?

Round1, thanks for the good words.

I'll keep in touch.

Tulip

Hi, Tulip. It's good you've made a decision. The RFA (in my non-medical opinion) is not nearly as invasive as lot of other things I've done - like medications and injections. And it really does help some people! The reason it didn't help me is that my disc was impinging on my spinal cord and I guess RFA doesn't help that. I had surgery in Feb. this year. I'm having an injection this Friday at that site and I just started Topamax last week. It's been a bumpy road and I'm waiting for things to pick up. But, the positive is that I'm learning a whole new meaning of patience! I've worked with kids for 9 years as a speech therapist and thought I was a reasonable patient person. This experience has been something else!

Please let me know how the RFA goes for you. I believe it can take up to 2 weeks afterwards to find out if it works. I wasn't very sore after. It just felt really strange during - like they're frying your nerves! But not painful because of the local anesthetic injected.

Best!
- Margaret

My doc. did say that it can take 2-3 weeks to feel any difference in the pain, and that I can get one side effect from the procedure very bad soreness for 11-14 days, but I feel at this point it's worth a try.
I'm calling tomorrow to schedule.

At this point tho, my August calendar is very full, I just had to schedule my oldest sons wisdom teeth removal for August, plus we have vacation scheduled, and then visiting family back home, and then school starts, so it may have to wait till the first week of September, but that's ok, I've made it this far, I can go another four weeks.

Tulip15

Dear Tulip, I have had the RFA procedure done 3 times, and it has given me a lot of pain relief! I went through all the testing, like you did. I think that is the most important thing-if you get short relief from the test, and then the pain comes back, you have a good chance of the RFA working.

The procedure itself is not too bad, they gave me light sedation. It took about 45 minutes for my doctor to do 6 "burnings." I had both sides of L3, L4 and L5 done. My facet joints had been inflammed for a while, and I had one bulging disc. But, the joints are where my pain is from, not the disc, so this procedure worked for me. I did have a couple weeks after the procedure with worse pain, then it started feeling better. I have been able to go 8 months, and then had to have it repeated, because the same burning pain came back. I think the average length of time is 9 months, but some people can go up to a year or more.

Good luck! I will be thinking of you. Kera4

Tulip, I was just thinking of you and wanted to say hello. I dont know about the procedure, but i wonder if i am a good candidate for it. I would love for something to give me sometype of relief. I am praying for you and your family, looks like you've got a busy month ahead of you. You take care ok, and I wish you the best.

Thanks everyone, I put a phone call into my pain doc. today to schedule the procedure, left a message, and will hear from them tomorrow.

I saw my neuro-surgeon today, all looks good from my neck fusion from last September and from the fusion of 2004, but he wants to see me in 6 months just due to the fact that I have degeneration in the rest of my cervical disks, and the issues with my thoracic spine, he wants to keep an eye on me, and for me to see him every six months, especially since I have some symptoms going on, he doesn't want to take any chances.

I'm bushed, it was a long day, and my lower back is killing me, but I feel good to know that my surgeon is willing to follow-up with me, and he also said that my pain doc. is doing all the right things, so that made me feel good also, so now I'll take all my meds, haven't been able to take them, as I can't drive with them in my system, so I'm a hurting pup right now.

You have all been so nice to me on these boards, I feel like I've truly met some very dear people here, your are all so wonderful.

I wish you all better pain free days ahead.
Good Night.
Tulip15

I did have a couple weeks after the procedure with worse pain, then it started feeling better.

Jumping in to say I'm so glad I read this...I just had the procedure done 2 days ago and was afraid it didn't work since the pain has increased slightly. Sure the doctor told me to wait up to 4 weeks for relief, but still...

Tulip
Just wanted to say Good Luck. I had this done and got a little relief probably enough to put off surgery for 6 months. When the nerves came back they were angry and overnight the pain increased.

The procedure was not fun at all I really had a hard time. I was sore for a while but not as painfully as the injections were.

I recommend you keep a pain diary documenting time of day what you are doing and your pain level. This will help you see if it is working or not.

I have heard people having this done and becoming pain free.

Good luck

Can this procedure be done on someone who had spinal fusion?

Lynne