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Experience with Radio Frequency Ablation procedures?
Spine Health | Last Active: Dec 29, 2022 | Replies (97)Comment receiving replies
Hi, Grandma.
RFA (radio frequency ablation) worked for me, but only for 8 months of "no pain."
You need to be more picky about your health providers.
RFA cost my insurance around $40,000. Thank goodness I have good insurance! BUT, I would not subject myself or my insurance company to the pinching shots again, because I feel that $40,000 for 8 months of pain relief is not a sensible way to spend money,
I had my RFA done at the Rehab. Hospital of Lovelace Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I am now working on the problem with lumbar and neck MRIs, Ask for the discs, and take them to spine surgeons so they can put them on the computer screen and describe what they show to you.
If you do not like the regular "tube" MRI experience, there is a company called Upright MRI at which you sit upright while they take the MRI. It's noisy, but gives clear info so the doctor can see what is going on.
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@marilynnovak
Hello!
Wow! Good thing you have good medical insurance, so do I.
I am VERY picky about who cares for me and I do lots of research before seeing a provider.
Sometimes the research was spot on, and other times not as much.
I have a FANTASTIC neurosurgeon who did 2 surgeries on me after I tried shots, including ablation a couple of times.
The surgeries were a success.
When I had surgery on my cervical spine then my lumbar spine, the doctor did the surgery in the areas that were the worse and was impacting me the most.
I've had xrays, MRIs and a mylogram as well as nerve tests to pinpoint where the issues were and are.
Now, I am having new (I think) issues and just completed 3 MRIs which covered my entire spine.
I see my surgeon in a couple of weeks to go over the results and to discuss what is next.
The neurologist I saw sent me for PT at the clinic's department and I left worse off than before I started.
MRIs do not bother me at all, I've had soooooo many.
I'll stick with my surgeon, for now to see what he suggests.
He is not the kind to suggest unnecessary cutting (which he has provided to me over and over again).
Thank you for reaching out,
Ronnie