sacraliliac joint pain..severe

RF is not permanent. It typically lasts around 18 months. It depends if you are a fast healer or slow healer (think about cuts and bruises) -- if you are a slow healer like me, you might get the same 5-7 years relief from the RF that I tend to get. If you are a faster healer like others, you might only get 6 months relief. Personally, though, I would want to have one more injection that worked before committing to the RF. The doc needs to figure out exactly where to do the RF & typically that information comes from where the helpful injections were placed.

As a side note -- relief from RF is not as quick as with facets/epidurals. You get a very short-term benefit from the local anesthetic, but then it usually takes a couple weeks for the scar tissue to form that blocks the pain signal. Eventually, the scar tissue heals itself & the pain returns. I usually am able to reduce pain meds by about 50% once the RF benefit kicks in.

Hello Tracy & welcome to Healing Well. Sorry to read what you have going.Living with pain is just the pits. Before you decide to not have the nerve ablation done you need to think & research this procedure a little more. I have had it done on my neck with great success. In fact, that procedure is the only thing after years that worked on my neck. Many of us here at Healing Well have done this & had very good results. No, it is not a permanent fix but if its a success for you, you may well feel very much worth repeating. No one can say how long the ablation will last, every person is different.

If you would like to read about others that have had this done you can search through the archives here & read those older threads. Our search feature is located at the top of the page & you can type in nerve ablation or try RF of nerve endings. We do ask that you not post on the older threads. You will find plenty of reading material.

Normally when an ablation is done the dr doing it will do diagnostic blocks to see if you are a candidate for the procedure. I would imagine whoever the dr was going to refer tp would do the same. My dr used light sedation when he did mine & I had no problems.

Take care.

hi TR - sorry for your pain -

have you tried any PT options ?

here is one offered by MD's :

www.spineuniverse.com/conditions/sacroiliac-joint-pain/exercise-physical-therapy-sacroiliac-joint-dysfunction

It's not very painful. I don't like sedation, so I do mine with just local & it's not really much worse than an epidural and a lot longer lasting. I've had 5-6 RF's over the years. Twice at C2 in my neck (benefit lasted for 7 years and then we repeated it), once in mid-back, and 2-3 different levels in my low back. If you don't do sedation, the procedure is maybe 10 minutes including prep & clean-up. With sedation, you're obviously there longer to allow the sedative to kick in and wear off.

You have to decide what's right for you, but for me, I saw a huge improvement in my memory and concentration when I reduced my pain meds by half and I didn't have so many side effects from the meds either (dry mouth, constipation, irregular periods, etc). It typically produces at least as much benefit if not more than what you get from injections, and the benefit lasts longer.

Do keep in mind that usually people who had a bad experience are exponentially more likely to post info on the internet. And the doctor doing the procedure makes a big difference. If you get one that does these on a weekly basis, s/he will know what to do to make the procedure safer & more comfortable for patients. All it is is a thin wire fed through a catheter needle so going in it feels the same as an injection. After the doc thinks he's got the right place, he presses a button to send a buzzing feeling to the nerve to make sure it's exactly where you feel the pain. Once he's found the right place, he'll put in numbing medication and then turn on the machine. You might feel a warm sensation where the machine is working if you're not sedated, similar to grabbing a plate from the dishwasher before it's fully cooled. It lasts for several seconds up to a couple of minutes and then it's done. The doc repeats the procedure in one more location & then you get cleaned off and either held until the sedation wears off or sent on your way. I usually go back to work either the same day or the next day after an RF (just can't drive the day of the procedure). I stay on the same meds for 1-2 weeks and then we start decreasing them when the pain drops.

Post Edited (Tirzah) : 2/20/2016 2:41:39 PM (GMT-7)