← Return to Any realistic alternatives to surgery for severe lumbar stenosis?

Discussion
Comment receiving replies
Profile picture for jackiet @jackiet

@judymehaffey Do you have medical issues besides stenosis? If like me you also have arthritis, DDD, bulging discs, scoliosis, and all those other good things, MILD may not make a difference. I understand that MILD cannot treat foraminal stenosis, which I also have. The pain doc now wants to do a medial branch block to see if RFA is an option. Of interest is the fact that I had one of those about 3 years ago and the physiatrist said it didn’t work so we didn’t do the RFA. This new doc’s PA tells me that knowing where to inject can affect results, as well as how carefully the patient is able to follow and record the pain relief from the MBB.

I was surprised that my insurance company, Medicare I guess, is allowing a second try. As I will be 90 next month surgery is not for me.

Jump to this post


Replies to "@judymehaffey Do you have medical issues besides stenosis? If like me you also have arthritis, DDD,..."

@jackiet My back is a mess. I was a competitive gymnast through college and that certainly did me no favors. I've tried everything and have finally thrown in the towel. I go next Wednesday to Johns Hopkins to consult a neurosurgeon and make a new game plan.