RFA made my lower back pain worse. Anyone else?

That’s what am going through now

So are you saying the test shots gave you some relief but the RFA did not?

Had the RFA done today. Procedure lasted a bit longer than the the first 2 rounds. No immediate after affect. Now I will wait and see if the pain subsides

Please let us know how it goes

This discussion thread has some very good information, but unfortunately, when people say to not put too much emphasis on the bad experiences because people that have good experiences do not always post them, it actually makes this more difficult. This topic alone has several good and bad experiences, so it all comes down to how your body responds to treatment. Just like spine surgery itself, for some people the relief is immediate, for others, there is no relief, and actually their pain is worse.

I am a 63 year old male that has has chronic right side pain from muscles (oblique and flank) permanently cramped/spasmed from when I get up until I go to bed. This has been going on for three years this month (July 2023 to July 2026), and I have had several doctors give up and walk away, telling me they have no idea what is wrong, and they cannot help me. These are doctors from the top hospitals in my city (5 hospitals, more than 30 doctors), and to be the subject of the poor treatment by several of these doctors / hospitals has been a surprise for me.

My next steps are looking into RFA treatment for my locked muscles. I was reading about the different surgeries and procedures to treat nerve damage or pain, and deadening the nerve sounds better than actually having surgery when they cut a section of the nerve out.

My treatments so far have included three epidurals, and the one at T11-T12 back in February has caused me to be in more pain than I was before the epidural. Even during the epidural itself, I was yelling while laying on the table it hurt so bad. The doctor said that could have been a good sign that he got the right nerve, but after reading about this pain from the epidural, there is a chance the nerve was nicked, which would have caused the amount of pain I had during the procedure.

So, 5 months post epidural, my pain level is higher (at 7/8 all day long), and my muscles also cramp with the slightest activity. This means I cannot do any type of physical therapy, because the light movements and stretches I've been given cause my right side muscles to lock up. Now I am stuck between getting back in shape and preventing so much pain that causes me to spend more and more time in bed. This is the only relief I get, laying on my back, and after 10 to 15 minutes, the muscles seem to calm down and most of the pain goes away.

Now, here I am reading both experience types for RFA, and the fact my condition has already been made worse by a medical procedure, I am hesitant to try RFA. This is terrifying to see where the healthcare industry is heading in the US, leaving so many people out in the cold with basically no help whatsoever.

@yaya1215 Had the RFA done last week. No adverse reactions as described by others. Some pain relief but not as much as I hoped for. Going for a follow-up visit in August

I had an RFA done on Oct. 21, 2026 to my inner left knee, its been a week since the procedure and the pain has gotten worse with muscle weakness to the lower part of my leg. Does anyone know if this is common or not?

@marcd2k
What you are going through is exactly what started for me in my flank, except the left side, summer of 2023. Muscle spasms if I exert at all on my left side, worse at night when I can’t find a comfortable position on either left or right side. I had left hip replaced because bone on bone, but the original lumbosacral pain remained and also had pain across top of thigh, extended to knee and then numbness in foot. Tried laminectomy at L4-L5 because surgeon said I had stenosis. Once healed and went through PT, some of back pain alleviated, but advanced weight in PT really aggravated the lumbosacral area, and the lumbar disks. Tried epidural and RFA … still in same pain. Finally, a P.A. at neurosurgery clinic ordered a nerve conduction study and EMG for my left side. It came up with lumbosacral radiculopathy, eminating from L5/S1. So, we finally have a cause, after 3 years of misery. My pain management doctor says the radiculopathy is caused by post laminectomy failed syndrome. Now all my docs say that a spinal cord stimulator has been known to help with this type of pain. It took forever for Aetna to approve the SCS trial, which had a good result. I am scheduled for the permanent SCS (paddle lead implants), next week.
My advice is to get the diagnostic NCS/EMG procedure and see if you have radiculopathy. I am no doctor but your symptoms sound very similar to what I am going through.

@wdawes Good afternoon, and thank you for replying. This is one area that I have participated in already, Nerve Conductivity, and EMG testing. What the doctor found was Thoracic Radiculopathy at T12-L1, and Denervation of the nerve at that junction. He performed an epidural at T12-L1, and there was no change to my condition. Still the same right side pain, as well as numbness in my right flank and paraspinal muscles on the right side of the thoracic area of my spine. This nerve doctor mentioned a spinal implant as a possibility, but he had no other advice after the epidural did not improve anything. He just said he didn't know what was wrong with my back and walked away.

@marcd2k
If your current doctor “walked away” and is not helping, then time for a second opinion. Perhaps find one who will do a trial spinal cord stimulator (SCS). The trial is about 7 days, and if it works you will know it. I’m my case the thigh pain went away completely it seemed, but it was hard to be sure about the lumbosacral pain, because the spine is trying to heal from having the implant leads in the epidural space? (This is my guess.) Patients who have had the permanent SCS done say that several weeks are needed to get over that post operative pain.

There are two types of SCS implant leads: percutaneous (this wire) and paddle (a flat, somewhat wider lead.) A pain management doctor can do the SCS percutaneous leads, but the paddle leads require a small hole into the epidural lamina for the leads to pass through (laminectomy), requiring a neurosurgeon. Paddle leads are basically permanent, but the percutaneous can be removed later.
All my doctors: physiatrist, pain management and neurosurgeon are quite frank about the radiculopathy pain. There are no easy fixes but the SCS can make life a % of pain free. I just want to easily sleep somewhat pain free at night, be able to get off the floor easily after stretching, be able to walk long distances, and so on like I used to. If having an SCS implant gets me there then I will put up with it?