Issue 12.17
Our body has some amazing methods for monitoring itself. Nerves, for example, monitor different parts of our body to warn us if we are over-extending or damaging our body. How does it warn us? Pain…that often times can feel like our body is screaming at us, making a huge interruption in our lives. This may leave us wondering why the nerves don’t just shut up already? We know we have arthritis because our body has been reminding us constantly, over and over, and we don’t want that constant reminder! The problem is that our bodies don’t do a good job of shutting off the pain signal when the problem is such that it’s not going to go away, as with arthritis and other chronic problems.
In the pain management setting there are multiple methods for shutting down that screaming and obnoxious pain signal. Radio Frequency Ablation or RFA is one method that is showing fabulous results. RFA is a minimally invasive procedure that uses a thin needle to heat up these screaming sensory nerves. When these nerves are heated, a lesion is formed that stops it from sending pain signals to the brain.
After Ablation, some people have immediate relief from pain, while other patients can take up to four to six weeks before the nerve “fades away” and pain relief is achieved. Because nerves take time to heal, RFA can silence the pain signal for a much longer period then medications and steroid injections. Oftentimes pain relief lasts from six to twelve months, and some patients even experience pain relief for years.
So, if RFA is such an amazing pain relief tool, why do we even worry about using other methods such as pain medications and steroids? That’s because there are only certain locations in the body that may be effectively treated with RFA. RFA can be used to treat pain in the neck, lower back, sacroiliac joints, and knees. Pain in these regions can be caused by inflammation associated with trauma, and arthritis. RFA can also effectively treat knee pain associated with knee replacements.
Patients often have concerns about how badly it will hurt, and what the risks are. Fortunately, RFA is performed with the patient under sedation, and the risks, though uncommon, can include increased pain at the site, infection, or bleeding. In general, success rates are very high, and patients are very happy to get rid of their screaming pain and find there life seems much happier.
If you have neck pain, low back pain, buttock pain, or knee pain, it may be time to consult with a pain specialist to see if Radio Frequency Ablation might benefit you and walk you through the insurance requirements of “test” injections. They will get your history, possibly order imaging studies, and do a physical exam to diagnose how best to treat your pain. Most importantly, RFA offers another tool to treat pain without the use of opioids.
Ryan Borrowman can be contacted at Desert Pain Specialists 435-216-7000.