Lumbar RF nerve ablation - Yay!

Yesterday I went in to get 3 nerves "burned." This was a repeat of a previous ablation that lasted a whole year. The only part that hurt was the local anesthetic, and that wasn't bad.

You have to be awake and responsive to be able to tell the doctor (anesthesiologist) when there's a tingle when he puts the test current on. Then there's the test to see if the nerve for movement is affected. I got a little movement in my knee, so one of the wires had to be moved a little. No pain! Just a little tingle.

Finally there's the heating which doesn't hurt either. 3 little bandaids and off to home to rest. I love local anesthetic. The nerves take a few days to turn off, but the local gets me home. No pain at night.

Today I can tell it's working. I've got a little numb spot, no pain. Next, I get the other side done and a month later we're going to try the neck.

Not all pain docs can do this, but it sure beats getting injections every 3 months or so. It's not supposed to help the radiating pain, but it did stop it all last year.

That's great news Alcie. Congrats. Let us know how it works.

love and hugs
Loretta

Congrats on the relief.

I'm not sure; you may be right. At 6 days, I don't have near the pain I did the first time 'round while healing (takes a couple of weeks). The repeat procedure didn't hurt nearly as bad as the first either. This time I was quite relaxed going in.

I'm getting the other side done in a couple of weeks, looking forward to it too. I have so much other pain, if I had to put up with all of it I wouldn't be able to stand it. I'm also getting the neck done a few weeks after the lumbar. I hope I'll only have to have one side done.

So far, I don't have any radicular pain on the treated side. Interesting. Doc said ablation doesn't fix that. I didn't have radicular pain for most of last year either. It only started coming back when the back pain got bad.