Re: New to Group-Jeff

[Guest guest]

Hi Jeff,

I've not had the intrathecal pump, but I do have L5 and lower back

problems, and have been through the injections. Sacroiliac

injections, epidurals, and finally facet injections. Once they did

the facet injections, they kinda worked for a little bit, enough for

my doctor to decide that I was a good candidate for RF nerve

ablations, which have been such a blessing to me. I had the left

side done, and I'm getting ready to have the right side done this

Thursday.

My cousin's wife has had 6 fusions done...her whole lumbar area all

the way down to her S1, and when I talked to her about RF nerve

ablations today, she liked what she heard and was going to ask her

doctor for a referral to my pain doctor.

What I don't like about the epidural injections, etc, is all the

steroids they are pumping into your body, and the fact that

honestly, they don't last that long...at least they never did for

me. But the RF nerve ablations seem to be doing pretty good. Have

they determined if you have any type of nerve problems in the area,

such as radiculopathy?

Nerve ablations consist of the doctor placing needles in certain

areas where the nerve branches would be, called introducer needles.

They are also to mark the bony landmarks on your back. I was

totally out for this, but I read up on it. They also place a wet

like patch to your side for conduction. Once they have everything

set, they use a special needle, that is super-heated with radio

frequencies, that they inject to semi permanently numb or deaden the

nerves that cause the pain. Ablations can last anywhere from 3-18

months or longer, but it typically depends on how long you have been

in pain as to how long they last, and how many times you have to

have it repeated, but another member on here told me that if you

have repeated ablations, they last longer and longer each time.

To me it's totally worth it, because my left side has been almost

pain free since I had that side done the first week of August, and I

haven't had that since I don't know when, and I am actually looking

forward to having the right side done. I'm out for the entire

procedure, and the downtime is so minimal. I have it done one

Thursday, and I'm back to work on Monday.

I don't know if this is something that would work for you, but this

is something I have done to control low back pain, and my cousin's

wife is going to look into having it done because she is still on

Percodan, sometimes 2 at a time, after having her whole lumbar area

fused, plus the top of her sacral area. It's another option to

consider. I know how horrible those steroid injections are,

especially those SI joint ones....okay, well, NONE of them are

particularly pleasant!

Hope this MIGHT help some,

Jen