Hi Sue! I'm having my second lower back ablation on Tuesday. It took about 30 minutes and recovery was about a day. I had one in September that got me through a knee replacement surgery and the holidays before the pain returned. The procedure isn't very painful (I wasn't offered sedation) and the effects were good for those few months. I waited too long to schedule my upcoming procedure and have been in serious pain since the first of the year! I'm going to reschedule number 3 way before I start having pain as it takes so long to get an appointment with my pain doc. My only advice is to stay ahead of the pain! I hope the ablation works well for you. I have back pain that is absolutely crippling, so I'm grateful for it. Best wishes!