If conventional medical treatment hasn’t helped relieve chronic pain in your back, neck, hips, or knees, it’s time to consider radiofrequency ablation. The experienced team at Boston Pain Clinic specializes in using radiofrequency ablation to give you long-lasting pain relief. To learn if radiofrequency ablation is right for you, call the office in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, or request an appointment online today.
Radiofrequency (RF) ablation is a minimally invasive procedure to relieve chronic pain. The team at Boston Pain Clinic uses RF energy to create a wound on one or more nerves.
The wound blocks pain signals that normally travel through the nerve to your brain. When the message doesn’t reach your brain, that significantly reduces or eliminates your pain.
Most people get long-lasting pain relief after RF ablation. The results usually last at least nine months and can continue for up to two years. Eventually, the nerve regrows, and the effect wears off. Then you can get another RF ablation if needed.
The team at Boston Pain Clinic frequently uses RF ablation to alleviate:
However, they can target any nerve, including sensory nerves as they enter the spinal canal. As a result, radiofrequency ablation is a good treatment choice for many types and causes of pain, from sports injuries and sciatica to neuropathy and joint pain.
When you get your radiofrequency ablation, you lie down on a table that allows your provider to take real-time X-rays. The X-rays provide a clear image of the targeted nerve and show the thin, hollow needle as they guide it to the nerve.
Once the radiofrequency needle is at the nerve, your provider sends radiofrequency waves through the needle and into the nerve.
Treating the nerve only takes about 90 seconds, so your provider can wound several nerves with RF energy during one appointment if needed.
You can walk around right after RF ablation. Some people experience immediate pain relief, but it can take a week or two for the full results to take effect.
To learn if you’re a good candidate for radiofrequency ablation, call Boston Pain Clinic or request an appointment online today.