Ablation recommended for back issues: Anyone else?

I have had ablation of the nerves. The first couple of days it hurts then quits. It last approximately two years on me. They I have it redone when the pain starts coming back. I love it when the pain if finally gone.

@ksdm The ablation procedure was done on my right knee. I am bone-on-bone there, and have suffered with increasing pain and discomfort for over 10 years. Multiple cortisone shots, topical ointments, etc had no effect. Due to health issues, I am not good for any type of surgery, even knee replacement.
Ginger

I've had a muscle spasm in one spot on the thoracic area of my back on and off for 25 years; maybe it happens twice a year, although the last time, it lasted for 4 months! This means sitting with a heating pad, taking pills, and going nowhere or doing nothing. I am begging for relief, and someone mentioned Botox, and someone else mentioned ablation. Has anyone had any experience with either and could tell me what either one would be like to have done? Thanks much!

I have had bi lateral spinal ablation 2x. Same area.
It put the pain away for a little bit but I'm talking like a day or 2.But other people have very good results with spinal oblation. I would give it a go it may work for you.

They keep you slightly awake, so you can talk to them as they do it.It just feels like a little like electric shock. But it can b painful depending upon how inflamed your nerves are.

But it's fast and over pretty quick. I hope this helps.
If you have any questions please comment back.
I'll be happy to help!

About the only thing that helped me was ablation outside of surgery. The neurologist I had sedated me and he shot up all lumbar discs. I got about six months out of it. The shots never helped me, but some lucky people have great success. Good luck.

Hello,
I saw a dr who does ablation and after thousands of dollars for MRIs and appointments. They tried an area that’s caused me problems for 30 + years. Unfortunately it didn’t work for me, it made it worse for at least a couple of weeks.
I too hear of people who have such success with it but unfortunately it was an expense that was not helpful for me at all.

I failed every treatment over the last 20 years. Finally gave up and just lived with the pain. I had an L4-5 fusion and L2-4 laminectomies 11 years ago that gave me relief for about 2 years. I'm an RN and avoided that surgery for 9 years, but woke up one morning with unbearable pain and both legs were numb, otherwise I wouldn't have had it done. I started trigger point injections Jan 2024 and had immediate relief, with NO PAIN for a month. It gradually came back and I can only get the injections every 3 months because of the steroid. But, I was very happy anyway. My last ones in Aug didn't work at all and I was really bummed out. I've now had progression of stenosis with back and severe hip pain and leg numbness after walking or standing 10 minutes. I'm scheduled for surgery in January but getting a second and third opinion. The last time my leg went numb, it gave out and I fell. I'm also scheduled for ablation and thinking of cx surgery to do that first. My first surgery was 9 hours because I had 3 epidural cysts that had to be teased carefully from the dura. They didn't show up on MRI. SURPRISE! I know I have at least one again. Suggest you try everything before surgery.

Hello RM Brooks, Thank you for the information about your experience with trigger point injections. If they work at all giving me some pain relief for a time, it will be worth trying them. I just hope they don't cause more permanent damage to deal with. My first laminectomy and fusion was for multiple spinal problems along with unstable scoliosis in my lumbar spine. It took a year of trying to heal until sciatica hit in my left leg along with lucencies around the screws (pseudoarthrosis). I scheduled a second surgery to replace screws with larger ones, move up a few more vertebrae, remove a hemorrhagic cyst on nerve at L5 and down through the pelvis. The third surgery was to redo the cervical spine C3- T1 and go up more thoracic vertebrae. With all this surgery, I'm still in severe pain now in the few thoracic vertebrae left without fusion surgery. I can understand why you are hesitant to have any more surgery done. In my situation, it only increased the area experiencing pain. There is not much left to be done except the spinal cord stimulation that might stop the pain and with as much as I've heard about the failure rate and complications of that procedure, it's not even a choice I would consider. I wish you the very best of luck whatever you decide to do. Again, thank you for the good news (however temporary) about the trigger point procedure.

I have had epidural and spinal ablation. It helped with pain but only lasted about a month. Medicare will not cover unless you have several pain killer injections and can verify at least an 80% improvement. I was able to do so and Medicare plus my supplemental insurance covered total cost. I doubt I will have done again due to limited time this helps.

Thank you for that valuable info!