Important Reasons to Consider Radiofrequency Ablation

If you live with chronic pain, you know how hard it is to get temporary relief — forget about finding long-lasting pain control. But don’t give up until you explore radiofrequency ablation (RFA), a safe, minimally invasive procedure that gives many people substantial and long-lasting pain relief.

As experts in interventional procedures, our board-certified providers at Alliance Spine and Pain Centers use RFA to help many patients overcome their pain and regain a more active, enjoyable life.

Ready to learn more about RFA? Here are six reasons why you should consider this remarkable procedure to ease your pain.

1. Find long-lasting pain relief

RFA does an exceptional job of relieving your pain, but it also offers an advantage you won’t get from most interventional procedures: It gives you long-lasting pain control. 

Here’s how it works and how long you can expect your results to last.

RFA is similar to getting an injection. We guide a needle-like device to the nerve responsible for sending pain messages to your brain, touch the needle to the nerve, then send a short burst of radiofrequency energy through the needle. 

The heat immediately wounds the nerve, effectively blocking pain signals. Your pain decreases because the message doesn’t reach your brain.

RFA leads to long-lasting results because the wound continues to stop pain signals until the nerve regenerates, and in some cases, it may not regrow.

If the nerve heals, your pain relief lasts 6-12 months. Some people find that their results last for years.

2. Get relief for many painful conditions

RFA alleviates pain caused by many conditions because it’s such a precise procedure that our experienced team can target nerves throughout your body. 

We can apply RFA to the nerves carrying pain messages from any joint or structure, relieving leg, shoulder, arm, and hip pain, as well as chronic pain caused by disease throughout your body. We can also relieve neck and back pain by performing RFA on spinal nerves. 

We may use RFA to tame the pain caused by:

• Facet joint arthritis
• Knee osteoarthritis
• Degenerative disc disease
• Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Trigeminal neuralgia
• Fibromyalgia
• Cancer

This list isn’t comprehensive, so don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment to learn if you qualify for RFA. 

3. Regain mobility and function

The pain relief provided by RFA gives you the ability to move again. You may be able to return to your favorite activities right away, depending on how long pain has limited your mobility. If you’ve been inactive for a while, you may need physical therapy to restore flexibility, strength, and function. 

4. Avoid or delay surgery

Some people prefer to avoid surgery. Others have already had surgery to treat the underlying condition, and they still have pain. Or you may not be able to have surgery due to a health concern.

No matter the reason, the pain relief provided by RFA gives you the ability to avoid or delay surgery.

5. Reduce or stop taking medications

Most people who have RFA can significantly reduce their dosage, and many get enough pain relief to stop taking medication.

6. Skip the side effects

You may have some soreness around the injection site for several days. Otherwise, RFA is a safe procedure that seldom causes side effects.

The only potential issue might be not getting enough pain relief. However, that seldom happens because we perform a nerve block before recommending RFA.

During a nerve block, we inject a local anesthetic into the selected nerve. If the anesthetic eases your pain, RFA should also be effective.

Our skilled team at Alliance Spine and Pain Centers has extensive experience performing RFA. You can easily schedule an appointment to learn more about this treatment by calling one of our 20+ offices or using the online booking feature.