Spinal stenosis and ablations

@heisenberg34 The only thing that worked for me was a Cortisone Epidural in the S1/L5
My pain management Dr. tried other areas with the Cortisone but only the S1/L5 worked. It only lasts about 3 months. Have had my fill this year of Cortisone. My side effects, this last one in August, edema in my feet, which elevation eliminated temporarily. And extreme easy bruising.
My pain was mostly in the top portion of my right thigh and in the AM. It was extremely painful. It would come an go. Before the first cortisone shot, I was using Advil. Which
worked for a while.
So I have decided for now to not have any more shots, at least for now. My first shot was Jan.,31st of this year. Last was Aug, of this year. So far doing ok. And BTW, PT NEVER HELPED ME!
My Spinal Stenosis is severe. But not having surgery. At least for now.
So we shall see.
I wish you a pain free outcome, no matter what you decide. Look into the TOPS procedure. I will as well

@sunbun303 Thanks for your reply. We all have our own, unique pain journey. Hope yours gets better and better.

I guess I won't be a good candidate for RF ablation as the medial branch block didn't provide adequate pain relief. I will see later today if the pain doc has anything else to add. In 2 weeks I will be at Mayo for some 3D MRI imaging of the area in the pelvis and hips. Hopefully that will shed some light on the issue.

you didn't say where it is you get the ablatia? and why you get it? not enough info to suggest remedies....

@heisenberg34 I can tell the Cortisone is leaving my body. When I get up in the morning, my hamstrings on upper right side are stiff. But subside as the day moves on. Fingers crossed it doesn’t get as bad as before I had the first shot🙏🤞🤞,
I wish you pain free days.

@kris27 , @heisenberg34 , After seeing numerous posts regarding "ABLATION", I still do not understand what that is. I'll be seeing my new pain management soon, and need to know about this. (I've had an ablation: intraventricular heart ablation, so I guess there are several types)

@bruizersmom I had radio frequency ablation on my L-1/S1 nerves years ago. They use high frequency radio waves to “burn the nerves. Did not help my lower back pain, Good luck in your journey.

@heisenberg34, this sounds like the nerve block I had done on my back....two long rods inserted one on each side of spine..... a burning of nerve endings. The heart ablation: catheter inserted into heart, supposed to poke around till a reaction (tachycardia ) is found, then an electrical something goes into catheter, and zaps the active nerve. In my case first poke brought on Tachycardia, and zap - done. Seems to have worked. Nerve block in the back lasted 6 years.

@bruizersmom Glad to hear it. Not exactly sure what they inserted where but it didn’t work. Nine years later and I’m still in major pain.

I had an intervertebral lumbar ablation in August 2023 and I ended up in the hospital and rehab for a month with a stroke and no pain improvement. I have to use a walker/rollator now that I didn’t need before. I will never have any thing like that again. I regret it.