One of the most technologically modern advancements in pain management these days is the appearance of radiofrequency ablation. What exactly is radiofrequency ablation? The procedure is performed as an outpatient by pain management specialists.
Neck pain leaves a person crippled. Merely wishing for the pain to go away is not going to work at all. You must resort to some effective way to get rid of this problem.
When a patient has neck pain itself and not pain that radiates into the arms, surgery is routinely not indicated. Why? The answer is that neck center Nj has done studies over the past two decades looking at surgical interference for neck pain in and of itself, and the results have been routinely poor.
When does neck surgery is preferred?
- If the patient has a herniated disc in his neck and has surgery to fix that, the results are very good. The results are typically well over 90% good to excellent.
- The same cannot be said for neck arthritis conditions, or slight pain in the neck due to post-traumatic arthritis. It’s also not a good idea to operate on patients with face arthritis.
- Along with physical therapy and chiropractic adjustments, injections in or around the facet joints can be extremely beneficial. If those injections are done and then wear off, they may need to be repeated or the pain doctor can perform radiofrequency ablation.
What is the procedure of radiofrequency ablation?
This is a procedure that heats up and decreases the small little nerve endings that supply sensation to the small facet joints in the neck at the neck center New Jersey. This can relieve pain for one to two years.
- Before radiofrequency ablation, the injection performed is called a medial branch block. This involves injecting numbing medication along with possibly a steroid material around the arthritic joints of the neck in the areas of the nerves that are bringing sensation to the joint.
- A medial branch block can be used as a diagnostic procedure, where insurance companies typically look for the injection to provide at least 50% pain relief and sometimes upwards of 80% relief to approve the patient for radiofrequency ablation.
- The medial branch block can also be used as a therapeutic procedure, and the patient may receive a few months of pain relief. If it works then wears off the patient would then be a candidate for radiofrequency ablation.
- The result of radiofrequency ablation has been extremely good. The pain doctor will use a needle that heats up at the end of it to burn the small little nerve endings called the medial branches. As mentioned, this may provide an early for well over a year.
Eventually, the small medial branches will regenerate and the pain may return. If this happens the radiofrequency ablation may simply be repeated with hopefully the same result at the neck center. An RF procedure should be attempted before a patient undergoing surgery in the neck for pain that is centered in the neck and not due to a herniated disc.
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