I had RFA on both sides (Bilateral) on 3 levels. It is an out patient procedure. Once done in 30 minutes or less, you get up, dress and leave. There is only some discomfort for that day, but the trail is more important.
My Dr was too excited about my 1.0hr of relief. I felt it wasn't worth it as a simply epidural lasted 1 1/2 days.
After all, it is up to you to decide if it helps and how long does it last. Don't be afraid to tell the Dr no!
Now, if it last for weeks, my experience was it doesn't get better. It's like taking an aspirin! If your head aches stops after 30 minutes and doesn't come back, great! But if your headache returns in 1 hour, it's not worth it. The actual RFA maybe stronger (I don't know-they don't say) but a headache maybe back 2-3 days later. Then it's not worth it!
Mine was lumbar from S1-L2. This is a long and large area. I told him twice that the bottom started hurting an hour later as it wore off completely. He jumped off his seat (38 years of pain management) But it worked right? Yeh, but only an hour. Remember, they don't get paid unless they do something! They get eager to do something even though it may not last long! Why do it?
If the water pump on your car lasted 12 years, but remanufactured last 8 days, what is wrong? It should last 12 years so get the coolant system flushed with good chemicals, install a new one with 12 years of working right.
Hope I made sense by providing an analogy! DK. Best of luck!

I have had it done on my right side. For me recovery was not bad but my knee kept going numb. I had to use a cane for like a week but that was about it.

Mine did nothing after some discomfort wore off. Unfortunately, like you I had no pain relief after any period of time. Sorry!

I told my doctor it wore off after an hour, yet he was still excited to follow up the final procedure. I hate to say, if a doctor does not do anything they can't get paid. So if they listen or not, they are still thinking about a paycheck!

In my case, the ablation procedure was easier than any of the four injections I had prior (steroids-twice, facet joint injections and median branch block) and the recovery was very quick- just a couple days.

Hello @megc, I moved your discussion and combined it with an existing discussion titled, "Ablation for lower back pain L4-5 S1" - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ablation-for-lower-back-pain-l4-5-s1/, so that you could meet the many members discussing lumbar ablation.