Lower back pain. Ablation?

Posted by carmen001 @carmen001, Jun 26 9:18am

I have lower back pain. It is on my right side about 3 inches from the center of spine, right above the butt. It stays right there and doesn't travel down leg etc. Along with this sometimes pain is in groin. The longer I stand or walk the worse the pain is until I have to get off my feet. It then hurts for 10 min or so before letting up. Mri shows buldging disk at every level of lower back along with scoliosis, and spinal stenosis at one level. The pain clinic wants to do ablation.... they say sciatica...
Any thoughts from anyone? Has anyone had anything similar and what did ypu do?

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mikeb39a | @mikeb39a | Jun 26 10:30am

I had some relief from facet joint injections. Good luck!

carmen001 | @carmen001 | Jun 26 11:02am

In reply to @mikeb39a "I had some relief from facet joint injections. Good luck!" + (show)

@mikeb39a
Thank you
I have had injections in the past but I also have osteoporosis and body not responding to meds for it. Dr wont let me take steroids anymore.
Did you pain stay just in your back?

paulyvan | @paulyvan1 | Jun 27 12:23am

I’ve had 3-4 ablation’s done over the last several years. The first one’s I thought helped me more than the last couple. Just because I think my back was so bad by then that nothing was going to help. So if I was you I would give it a try just to avoid a surgery. Trust me, once you start down the surgery road, there’s no turning back. Hang in there! They use to give me what they called a feel good juice when I had injections. It would knock me out for about 20 minutes until the injection was done. It was a good way to have an injection. But now they don’t give you anything, because of the opioid crisis. Be good to yourself!

mikeb39a | @mikeb39a | Jun 27 11:05am

In reply to @carmen001 "@mikeb39a Thank you I have had injections in the past but I also have osteoporosis and..." + (show)

@carmen001

I'm 74 and have arthritis everywhere but the facet injects were just for lower lumbar pain.

twistedwillow | @twistedwillow | Jun 28 4:01am

I have had three ablation’s with good success. The first lasted a year, others less so. I am on the waiting list for another. It’s important that they do test injections first to find the right spot.

jacque45 | @jacque45 | Jun 28 8:07pm

In reply to @paulyvan1 "I’ve had 3-4 ablation’s done over the last several years. The first one’s I thought helped..." + (show)

@paulyvan1
Hi Paul, not all surgery is bad! If you are bone on bone, or slipping over bone then surgery to fuse can completely fix this problem and take away pain! re injections, in Australia if you have private health, then you are always put under a heavy sedation...
We need to be careful on offering advice on this site as we are NOT qualified doctors.

hank82 | @hank82 | Jun 28 9:45pm

hello and my wife had it for her really bad back ,it seemed to help however it did not help her very little and you can get is more than once. This might work better for you ,since you are not as bad as she it. good luck to you and hope you can get some relief from your pain . Hank2

@lchop55 | @karentheo | Jun 29 3:35pm

@lchop
I did have an ablation done several years after a failed back surgery. An MRI of the hip indicated arthritis and a labral tear. It absolutely ruled out sciatica. Just make sure to explore all diagnostic testing before RFA. Unfortunately, the RFA did nothing for my pain. A steroid injection into the hip helped the arthritis but still have chronic pain in the hip and lower back. After suffering for about 10 years, no doctor has been able to give an actual diagnosis and resolution. Be cautious and ask lots of questions. Good luck!

frankiechi | @frankiechi | Jun 29 7:38pm

I had three ablations, One bilateral laminectomy, four trigger points, four facets, and three epidurals as well as non interventional procedures all to no avail. Next up: SCS. I’m sure I sound like Debbie Downer , which I am. Keep trying; it amazes me how little the medical field can do to help the 20 million of us living with chronic pain. Good luck.