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Ablation for lower back pain L4-5 S1

Spine Health | Last Active: Jul 22 2:49pm | Replies (49)

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@deankay1

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!

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Replies to "I had RFA on both sides (Bilateral) on 3 levels. It is an out patient procedure...."

Thank you so much for your feedback. Below is an update on my procedure that I posted to another member. Please let me know if you had the same experiences. Thank you!

I had my lumbar ablation yesterday and as soon as the IV medication wore off, I was in excruciating pain. it was so intense. All I could do was walk back-and-forth in my house. I could not find a comfortable position whatsoever. I had a few pills of Dilaudid left from my lumbar fusion surgery and took one of those, and it offered me enough relief that it took the edge off the pain and I could get comfortable and keep water and food down.
Today, my back is still very sore, numb, I’m still having a lot of pain and am limited in the ways that I can move (bending, stretching, turning etc) even more so than before the ablation.
My doctor told me to expect to feel this way over the next few weeks. He also said it would take 5 to 6 weeks to feel any pain relief from the ablation.
Did you experience what I went through post ablation? How long did that last, and how long did it take for you to feel any pain relief from the ablation?