@annie1 Hi again Annie. You asked me sometime ago--when I said I turned down a plan by a surgeon to "straighten your curvature"--what I do for the pain. I didn't answer you right away because it's a long story and I want to condense it. I want other people to know about this too. I have had procedures aimed at specific spinal locations that obviously, on MRI, were causing pain. I have, during all this time, been taking oxycodone-acetaminophen 5-325 mg 4 times a day. I now take it 2 times a day with more in the morning, when the pain is at its worst.
I had an Intracept procedure in two locations on 2 separate occasions. This procedure has been around for more than 16 years, when it was approved by the FDA. Yet I found out about it only when I went to a surgeon who really does specialize in treating patients with chronic severe pain. I've been told by more than one person in healthcare that severe chronic pain treatment is where there's a hole in the system, as I think just about everyone here has experienced.
MRI indicates where Intracept will likely help reduce pain, that is where the endplates of a vertebra are distorted. The surgeon goes into that specific vertebra and ablates (kills) the major nerve in that vertebra. The first of these procedures I had, eliminated excruciating pain I had across my waistline in my back. This very specialized procedure should Only be done by a surgeon trained by the Intracept developers. You can find such a person by going to the Intracept website and looking for surgeons who are in their subset of experts. Prior to having that procedure I was told by physicians at a major "Pain Management" center that there was nothing more they could do for me because I didn't respond to their cortisone injections. Nor would they prescribe enough pain medication for coverage in the second part of the day.
I have had no recurrence of that pain where that Intracept procedure was done. Because osteoarthritis is progressive, and I have an unusually severe case, I keep developing new back pains. My other joints hurt more too, but that is tolerable. For the newer back pains I have received mostly additional injections of a numbing agent plus a cortisone with only moderate success in terms of decreasing the pain. Ibuprofen (one brand name is Advil) gives some relief but even taken on a full stomach seems to have gotten my stomach constantly iirritated so I'm off that for now.
I also have had the Reactiv8 procedure, which activates muscles that send pain signals to the brain and restores those muscles. Its is the only treatment, says my surgeon, that restores function.
This is getting too long so I'll leave off here and answers what questions I can if anyone has any. I did find that questioning surgeons about why they thought surgery of my curvature was Not advisable gave me enough information to make an informed decision--together with my own research online. What the more conservative surgeon told me was easy to understand and invaluable for making a decision to go without that back surgery. I didn't have to do any additional research.
Best wishes to all!!