Radiofrequency Ablation

If you have chronic pain that just won’t go away, you may be getting discouraged, since chronic pain can be debilitating. Especially with back pain, you may find that anything you do, even getting out of bed, becomes a painful experience. And doctors can’t always find the specific source of your pain. But you should still take steps to relieve your pain.

Your doctor has access to state-of-the-art diagnostic tools. Between the equipment and the talent, you’ll find an appropriate treatment plan to get you out of pain.

Consider radiofrequency ablation (RFA), a procedure that goes straight to the source of your pain by targeting the nerves with a safe, painless electrical current. Once it’s determined which nerves are involved, RFA greatly reduces your level of discomfort. The procedure even prevents complications.

The Cost of Chronic Pain

Potentially risky surgeries with complicated side effects are performed sometimes to treat chronic pain. The alternative, long-term use of pain medication, is costly and leads to abuse or addiction. Yet it’s proven that pain can damage your nerves and other parts of your body even more if you have to change the way you move to avoid hurting.

Being in pain for extended periods of time wreaks havoc on your mood and your mental health. Conditions like depression and anxiety are commonly associated with chronic pain. Persistent pain leads to lost work, reduced productivity and missed social opportunities. You may stop exercising or playing your favorite sports, which impacts your entire health. Being sedentary increases the risk of a whole other realm of illnesses and disease.

The Radiofrequency Ablation Procedure

Your pain management doctor prepares you for this outpatient procedure by asking you to fast for 24 hours before you come in. If you need to temporarily stop any medications, your doctor consults with your prescriber on how to do that safely. You’ll need to arrange to have someone drive you home after your procedure, as you’ll be too groggy to drive for the first 24 hours.

The procedure, considered to be minimally invasive because you won’t even need sutures, follows several steps:

1. You’re given an IV medication to relax you, but you’ll be awake for the procedure.
2. The area where you feel pain is numbed with a topical anesthetic.
3. Using CT scan images, your doctor inserts a needle near where your pain originates and injects some dye to better view the area.
4. You doctor then inserts a needle with an electrode to the exact nerves that are sending pain signals to your brain. The electrode heats up the nerves to deactivate them so that they don’t signal pain.
5. You should feel immediate relief. After being monitored in a recovery room, you’re ready to go home.

Long-Lasting Relief from the RFA Procedure

Radiofrequency ablation isn’t a miracle cure. It’s usually performed only when you’ve gone through several other pain-relief options first without success. But most patients report that they get relief for six months to a year following a radiofrequency ablation.

Effective Pain Relief

RFA has been well-studied and found to be effective, especially for lower back pain. When you’re suffering from pain that doesn’t have a clear source, RFA definitely provides relief. After you’ve tried self-care, lifestyle changes and other chronic pain treatments and nothing seems to work, RFA can be the best option.

Radiofrequency ablation delivers safe, effective relief. In the hands of an expert like your specialists, your chances of success increase. Your And when coupled with strategic preventive plans, you have a good chance of living your life without debilitating chronic pain.