Call NowIs RFA Effective for Treating Severe Neck Pain?
Suffering from severe, chronic neck pain? Lingering pain negatively affects your everyday life, making it difficult for anyone to enjoy the things they once loved. Luckily, there are solutions to alleviate neck pain, without requiring the use of pain medication. RFA, or radiofrequency ablation, is a targeted technique that can treat several conditions, including chronic back or neck pain. Here’s what you need to know about this simple procedure.
What Is Radiofrequency Ablation?
RFA is a highly effective, trusted treatment for pain relief, including severe neck pain. During an RFA procedure, a medical professional uses a heated needle tip to disrupt nerve conduction, preventing the transmission of pain signals while reducing discomfort in the target area.
Why is RFA so effective? The procedure enables medical professionals to precisely pinpoint the area of pain. It’s also an extremely safe, simple therapy with few complications. Since doctors can stimulate specific areas before the ablation procedure, only the offending nerves are targeted. As the doctor places the needle to heat up the nerve tissue, it damages the nerve’s pain signals, so the brain no longer receives them. In this way, the procedure is similar to a nerve block, but it lasts much longer.
RFA has a great history of success. Over 70% of patients who’ve had the procedure experience significant pain relief that lasts, often for about 6 months to one year, or longer. Aside from relieving neck and back pain, an RFA procedure is a useful treatment for:
- Cancer pain
- Chronic pain due to arthritis of the spine or sacroiliac joint pain
- Facial pain caused by trigeminal neuralgia
- Heart rhythm issues
- Knee pain
- Peripheral nerve pain
- Tumors (RFA can be used to kill cells)
What to Expect from an RFA Procedure
RFA is non-invasive, so there’s no surgery involved, and the procedure can be completed in an outpatient setting. Patients are given a local anesthetic to minimize discomfort, and in some situations, sedation is needed.
The doctor will use an electrical current to provide the heat necessary for the procedure. Most patients don’t feel a thing, but some report feeling a slightly warm or thumping sensation. After the procedure, patients may experience some soreness and swelling at the site, which should fade away within a few days.
While nerves won’t stop sending pain signals right away, most patients can expect to feel significant pain relief starting two weeks following the procedure.
RFA Is an Effective Treatment for Neck Pain and More
Wondering whether RFA can help you experience relief from chronic, severe neck pain? The medical team at Impact Medical Group of Sarasota is here to help! Our doctors have performed countless treatments to help patients experience long-lasting, measurable relief from chronic pain. Call us today at (941) 222-1157 to schedule your free consultation and enjoy a better quality of life with less pain.
