The block is usually the medial nerve which is the nerve that sends pain to the brain. They use X-ray during the proceedure and are able to see the nerve. Hope this is helpful to you.
https://www.spine-health.com/treatment/injections/medial-branch-nerve-blocks

I had it done for the 4th year in a row,but this time about 3 weeks after i am weak in both legs.I don't know if its that or my nerves are pinched.Dr. wanted to refer me to his Surgeon but i said no.Don't want no back surgery.Pain management Dr. sent me to get mri and said my nerves were more pinched than before 4 years ago.

I had the same problem and the Mayo did a OLIF and a L5-S1 TLIF. I feel great 10 weeks out now. Almost to the 3 months. I am down to having a sore back that is getting better each week. I wouldn't be scare of back surgery as long as you do your homework on the surgeon.

I also had diagnostic nerve blocks for lumbar stenosis. The injections were horribly painful. I was yelling in pain and the doctor never stopped stabbing me! I won't go near a spinal injection ever again. As for ablation, the same doctor tried to schedule one for me without ever discussing it with me. I refused. After what I went through with the nerve blocks I am certainly not about to let someone electrocute me with needles that heat up to 124 degrees centigrade to cause 2nd degree burns! That's how an ablation destroys perfectly healthy nerves. Look it up online. The procedure does nothing to help the diseased skeleton. Then the nerves often grow back. A significant percentage of people get short term or no relief from nerve blocks and ablations. The studies are out there on the Internet from reputable hospitals and professional medical journals. There are older studies that give better rates of success, but those are based on the doctors' responses. The newer study based on patient responses gives much lower success rates. The doctor who tried to pressure me into an ablation admitted in person to me that they can't even see the nerves they are trying to deaden or destroy! I came to the conclusion that spine doctors who do a lot of blocks and ablations are incompetent sadists in love with a quick procedure that makes them lots of money. What ethical person would risk paralyzing a person by using destructive techniques performed blindly that can't be relied on to work? The doctor I had lied to me and told me he had done hundreds of blocks and no one had ever had a problem with pain. He also called the procedure "minor" and promised that I would be "relaxed and comfortable"! Ha! He used a benzodiazepine sedative, which does NOT stop pain. It puts the patient into a temporary state of mental illness called dissociation. The patient still feels the pain, but the doctor is counting on the other effect of benzodiazepines: amnesia. In other words they make you helpless and confused so you can't say stop. It's a deceit, and they know they can do it and get away with it because it's your word against theirs afterwards, and since you had the drug they can just say you remembered wrong. The drug did nothing but paralyze me while I was wide awake. I could not defend myself or even speak. Never again!

I had the ablation on my lumbar and on my cervical. The lumbar lasted about a month for me before the pain came back. The cervical lasted about 6 months. They did a ViaDisk procedure on my L5/S1 where they injected live cadaver cells into the center of the disk hopefully causing the disk to regenerate itself. After that, my pain went from bad to unbelievable. The doctor said it was from the nerve being disrupted by the procedure and did some more shots to settle it down. No luck. They are now doing an MRI to see what the next steps might be. It could be fusion or a spinal cord stimulator. But something has to be done! I am in so much pain that I can’t walk any distance or do anything that requires movement. Bear in mind that I am fused from C3 to T1 and all but one of my lumbar are fused. I have severe spinal stenosis.
Good luck. I know that lots of people have had good luck with labations.

I had mine 3 months ago and for the first time in 3 years I was pain free- I am starting to feel the leg and hip pain I have experienced so I ask the Dr to do it again in a month or 2- It was amazing to be pain free and is definitely worth it

Are you having this pain post surgery?

How long post op are you?

I asked because I had my third fusion l3 fused to previous l4/15/s1 9 months ago.

I’m still experiencing nerve pain. It’s a 6-7 on most days.

Your thoughts about whether injection or ablation may be of any benefit.

I talked to my doctor about my lower back pain and he suggested trying that ablation. After the test I decided to not go through with it.
Glad I read these posts and forgo the procedure. Sounds like a lot of pain for unsure help.
My issue is I can no longer take any nsaids for pain - chronic kidney disease caused by years of use for pain.

I have spondylolisthesis, DDD, and arthritis and affects L4, 5, and S1. This year I have had 2 injections, one on each side, then nerve block, one on each side, ablation also on both sides. I didn't find the pain of ablation to be any more than the injections. I opted for mild anesthesia instead of just numbing the area. Of course all of this doesn't fix the problem only helps with pain and will only last so long. I'm trying to avoid am fusion, and hoping technology will catch up with a better solution.
Has anyone had TOPS (Total Posterior Arthroplasty System) procedure? Did you have positive results and was it covered by Medicare....and is it minimally invasive as they say it is?
This procedure is done horizontal instead of vertical like a fusion, with a much less loss of range of motion, supposedly.

Right behind you looking for any info from those whom have experienced this. Good luck🍀🍀🤗🤗 Will check back soon.