SI joint injections- not steroid

Hi!

I have had radiofrequency ablation done on my lower back. In fact, some of us were discussing "nerve burning" sometime recently, like within the last week. You might want to search for it.

I assume that's what you are talking about. They first do sort of a test injection to see if the real thing will work and that they are in the right spot. With the test injections, pain relief lasts a matter of hours. My PM doc did 2 sets of tests. Then the "real" thing. They did sedation, then did the procedure on only one side of my back. It was a couple weeks or a month later for the other side. I didn't really feel any pain, and remember very little from the procedure. For the first week or so after the procedure, I was pretty sore, the pain was a little worse than usual. That's normal. My PM doc put me on a week of steroids to help decrease the inflammation from the procedure. Then things started getting better. For me, the pain relief wasn't super dramatic, but definitely a success. I still take the same amount of pain meds, still have trouble with a lot of the same things I did before, but after a while, I realized that it had improved enough that I wasn't thinking about the pain all the time. It was far more manageable. I am glad I had it done. It's been somewhere around 8 months now (I think, my memory is horrible). I guess I would say that the pain is just starting to creep back in. The nerves do regenerate eventually, but the procedure can be repeated! I'm sure you know that just like every other treatment, each person's response to it is different. For me though, I'd say it was definitely worth it, and when the pain gets worse again, I'll be sure to have it done again.

Oh, and I THINK the test injections are done with some kind of numbing agent, maybe lidocaine or something like that?

After the test injection worked, last year I had 6 ablations done in lumbar area, not SI though. 3 on a side at a time, then wait a month or so and the other 3 on the other side.

I wasn't offered, nor did I need sedation. The local anesthetic was enough. It hurts, but it's not much worse than the regular injections. I went home with an ice pack, no steroids. I used ice the next day too.

It takes a few days for the procedure to really kick in, probably because of the local damage from the needle. So far, 11 months, I've had only one of nerves needing another injection. When the nerves do eventually grow back the procedure can be repeated.

Look up RFA or radio frequency ablation for pictures, and videos. My doctor hands out a leaflet explaining the procedure for the patient to read when he recommends doing this. I trust my pain docs, so I'm not scared, rather feel relaxed and happy I'm going to get relief.

It's handy to have your own good ice pack when you're doing any sort of spine injections. The little instant bags they give out don't even last long enough for me to get home. I bring my own nice cloth covered ones half full of ice with me.

If there's piriformis compression of the sciatic nerve, there are lots of great stretches you can try. Google the videos.

I like to do stretches sitting on my big exercise ball, or even just in my chair. Doesn't help my sciatica, but helps with hip tightness.

If they don't work it's not the problem. There could still be piriformis muscle problems though.

Another hip pain is simple bursitis. I've had that a couple of times and steroid injection did the job. But we're getting away from the SI joint.