Who Has Or Having This Done ???radio Frequency Ablation Of The Facets Surgery?

rabbitbunnies · 01-16-2006, 10:25 AM

Hi
I was wondering who also had this done and what the time from of recoving was for them ..?? I am schedule to have this surgery done this week ..I am kind of getting scared and just want everything go alright . If they had this done ..how long was it before the pain complety had gone away ? would appriecated the advice ..god bless

dango · 01-16-2006, 06:50 PM

I have had this done. Not to worry. I guess it's considered an o/p "surgery". Really it's a lot MORE like getting injections in your back and ALL of the literature you can find will tell you that there's NO recovery time (i.e. you should be back to work the next day). I would not go so far as to say that. I got mine done on a Wed. and had my PM doc write me a note to be off work Thurs/Fri (so it wouldn't count against my vaca/personal time--that was our policy). That way I had the weekend too. So it's variously call Radio Frequency Denervation/Ablation/Rhizotomy. Why so many names? You got me. I had 7 on one side and 5 one the other b/c of the extent of my degenerative disc disease. They just use local anesesthia (you have to be able to talk to them)and put in this really thin needle and the tip of it heats up and melts the myelin sheath off the nerve that goes to an area affected by a bulging/herniated disc or entrapped nerve root. They usually use IV Fentanyl for pain as it's somewhat more painful than the test procedure they do ahead of time--or so they say. Neither one struck me as particularly painful in contrast to what I go through every day. The minute I got up and walked away from where they had done the procedure--"Wha-lah--no pain in those areas!" OH! AND THERE'S NO NUMBNESS ON THE OUTSIDE. You wouldn't know you'd gotten the thing done--except that the pain is gone. I turned out NOT to need the time off either. I wasn't sore at all. I'd imagined a more grim procedure. Maybe if I had gone to work I would have regretted it. It would have been different than lounging around, drinking coffee and reading that's for sure! Unfortunately for me, I'm one of those "fast healers" so my myelin has regrown and my pain is back 5 months post-procedure. They say after you have it done a couple of times it becomes permanent. We can only hope.

rabbitbunnies · 01-16-2006, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dangovt

I have had this done. Not to worry. I guess it's considered an o/p "surgery". Really it's a lot MORE like getting injections in your back and ALL of the literature you can find will tell you that there's NO recovery time (i.e. you should be back to work the next day). I would not go so far as to say that. I got mine done on a Wed. and had my PM doc write me a note to be off work Thurs/Fri (so it wouldn't count against my vaca/personal time--that was our policy). That way I had the weekend too. So it's variously call Radio Frequency Denervation/Ablation/Rhizotomy. Why so many names? You got me. I had 7 on one side and 5 one the other b/c of the extent of my degenerative disc disease. They just use local anesesthia (you have to be able to talk to them)and put in this really thin needle and the tip of it heats up and melts the myelin sheath off the nerve that goes to an area affected by a bulging/herniated disc or entrapped nerve root. They usually use IV Fentanyl for pain as it's somewhat more painful than the test procedure they do ahead of time--or so they say. Neither one struck me as particularly painful in contrast to what I go through every day. The minute I got up and walked away from where they had done the procedure--"Wha-lah--no pain in those areas!" OH! AND THERE'S NO NUMBNESS ON THE OUTSIDE. You wouldn't know you'd gotten the thing done--except that the pain is gone. I turned out NOT to need the time off either. I wasn't sore at all. I'd imagined a more grim procedure. Maybe if I had gone to work I would have regretted it. It would have been different than lounging around, drinking coffee and reading that's for sure! Unfortunately for me, I'm one of those "fast healers" so my myelin has regrown and my pain is back 5 months post-procedure. They say after you have it done a couple of times it becomes permanent. We can only hope.

thank you so VERY VERY MUCH for the input but maybe I didn't read what your injury was ?but I AM VERY THANKFUL that you shared your feelings /soul to me . my surgery "rfa" is on the 26th of this month .The injections I had WOW ..JUST thinking about that ..it gives me chills down the spine .I do hope we can REALLY become freinds .. I am also taking the ACTIQ LOLLYPOPS. .. ARE Fentanyl 1600 mcg . i had to have an extra thru the injections but as I sit here now .. 5 days after the injections . they are beginning to wear off.but come hell or high water bring the RF on . if I gone thru the terrible stabbing pain bring it on surgery wise please tell me all about your back injury
godbless .....tc

Janna Clair · 01-19-2006, 03:11 AM

Me Too, I'm also Interested in Radio-Frequency Denervation!

I'm new to Bulletin Boards, so this may be Awkward, at first.
Due to the new Medicare changes, on Jan. 1st., 2006 I lost a good number of my Doctors, as I was forced to join an HMO...a third-class one, at that. But I digress! I've had problems with my Back since approx. 1998, or so. At first, it interfered mostly with some of my Yoga Asanas (Postures); it was mild Back pain, and I could Stand up approx. 1/2 hr. at a time, and it interfered only moderately, with my Life, (I had already stopped Performing by then--I used to be a Musician--and thus only rarely carried heavy things. Back Physical Therapy, did very little, and even after the Treatment I could not return to Yoga. i slowly became less and less mobile, as the pain increased, and by 2000, I was given a Wheelchair, and a Shower Chair, plus had an M.R.I., and had an Epidural Steroid Shot. That was the worst thing I, (in my particular case) could've done. I went from 10 minutes standing up time, to 1 minute standing up,,,just like that!!! The same Doctor suggested I have my L-4 & L-5 Vertebrae Fused. I thought: This Doctor just made me lose 9 minutes standing up time, and now he want to fuse my Vertebrae??? Huh! Huh!!!! I went to get a Second Opinion, from a Neurosurgeon, who found problems with sensation on my lower Extremeties. He sent me to a Physiatrist, to have Velocity and Electrical Studies done. At first, the Dx was: Peripheral Neuropathy, but a month later, on second Tests, the P.N. was gone, and to my knowledge, never returned. Frustrated, and in terrible Pain, I went to a Neurologist, who tested my Brain, and found me to have Aphasias, and A.D.D., but found nothing on my Back. In Desperation, I went to Johns Hopkins to see an Orthopedic Specialist, who also took M.R.I.s, and sent me home, telling me they couldn't do anything for me. By then, I was already a Patient at a local Pain Clinic, and taking up to 40 Mg. Oxycontin/day. I didn't like the Hallucinatory Side Effects, and we searched for alternatives. I was given a TENS Unit, and w/in 9 Months, my Skin no longer responded to its stimulation. I was also doing mild Aquatic Exercises, (for Seniors, I'm 51). Eventually, after an insane Hospital Nurse refused to give me my Oxycontin when it was time to take it, while i was at the Hospital, for an unrelated thing, I went back to my Pain Dr., and asked for something else. He put me on the Duragesic Patch, which starting at 25µcg/72 Hrs. (3 days patches), quickly moved past 50 up to 100 µcg Patch, every 3 days, ( also wear a Orthopedic Brace. Not the flimsy stuff you see people not wearing at places like Home Depot, or Target, but the kind one wears under one's Clothes because it's big, and very, very Visible, (I don't like for people to treat me like an Invalid, although, thankfully, I DO have a Disabled License Plate, and for about 2 years, I was pretty much Wheelchair-bound. But then my husband accidentally broke the W/H Hook in my Chair-Lift, and so I just use my Walker, and sit a lot.
At present, the Duragesic Patches and the Lidoderm Patches, along with the Brace, and Compounded Rx Ketoprofen Topical Cream, for Breakthrough Pain, (and a LOT of Dirty Looks from e-v-e-r-y- new Family Doctor I go to, when they have to keep me on the Duragesic Patch, and frequent allusions to the "Addictiveness of these Drugs...(to Junkies, perhaps, but the only thing I'm a Junkie of is NO P-A-I-N!!!)...AND SO ON...has made it increasingly Stressfull and Difficult to Continue in this Treatment I want something more Permanent, and non-Drug-oriented. Trouble is: my new 3rd-rate Doctor, at a 3rd-Rate Clinic, (for people like me...on Disability, and thus Poor...) wanted to send me to a third-rate Pain Clinic, I've been to before, who I happen to know are VERY Anti-Drug, and believe in Will-Power...Tomorrow!!! I'm Desperate! I need Help!!! I've just heard of this --Potentially no-drug-involved/more Permanent Treatment called "Radio-Frequency Denervation," and though hopeful, I'm stuck in this 3rd-rate Medicare+Extra Help (i.e. Medicaid) HMO, which'll probably require me to have all types of Proof of need, just like they've Stopped me cold on Neurontin, (for the Nerves on the Spine), this week, and are demanding all sorts of Documentation as to Why I'm even taking it...One thing I can't understand. I'm a very well-versed person, when it comes to my HealthCare, and particularly my Back, (although I gave up on it, for a couple of years), IF this Treatment has been around, as the lit says, since the late 1970s. How Come I've never heard of it? And how come I had to hear about it in the local News? And not from my Doctors??? Can someone enlighten me about this?

Is this the possiblility of a Normal Life, again? Being able to resume Yoga? Being able to wear clothing a size smaller, since I may not have to wear this Brace? And if the MRIs don't show the disk too far out off the Spine, then how come the Brace helps my Back Pain so much, that I was able to cut my Pain Meds in Half, upon putting it on 4 years ago?

If M.R.I.s are so good ("It's better than Exploratory Surgery..." I'm told by a Specialist), then why doesn't it show the problem, and what pray tell me IS my problem? For awhile there, the symptoms I had made me believe I had ALS. Perhaps that would've been better, if it was true. ! No! I'm not Depressed! I'm just Fed-up with False Hopes. I'm fed up with this Pain. I've even had to begin Therapy with a Social Worker Therapist, to be able to deal with the Pain, and 2 years ago, I took up Painting, for the same reason...Help!!! Anything out there, I haven't heard before? Any Treatment my Insurance will actually COVER, other than just keep Drugging me???

soaplady · 01-20-2006, 10:45 AM

Ironically, I'm leaving in two hours to get my second rfa. I got one in Nov on three levels on the left side of my lower back, but it didn't work. I got another test block done three weeks ago which really helped alot. So, today I try again.

My test blocks hurt worse than the first rfa, but I had some very tender skin for about a week post procedure. I have pain patches, and those helped alot.

I'll post back later, but I just want to say do not be afraid to try this. While anytime you get needles in your back you take a risk, it wasn't the horrible time I thought it would be. Hopefully, this time will be fine, too. They did say the second time may take longer, though.

Now, I have a very painful neck problem, so it's just another thing to deal with.

Take care.