I had my second RF Ablation treatment on my back about 6 weeks ago. I was told by a Neurosurgeon there isn't anymore that he can do for me. I could show you my MRI, but if you would look at it, I have narrowing at the bottom of the spine where a cluster of nerves are bunched together. I forget what he called it, but he said he could try to operate on it and put spacers in there to try to give the nerves some room to spread out, but no guarantees. When I told him I may be willing to risk it, he said, "On second thought, I don't want to perform the surgery."
So, he kind of left me hung out to dry. I guess I may try the Cleveland Clinic or Johns Hopkins. Hopkins is closer, about 50 miles away, but it's a 3 month wait after the consultation, which is another 2 months. I just remember, the surgeon called it a nerve impingement. But, it's actually a cluster of nerves.
Nerve impingement, yes, caused by spinal stenosis; narrowing of the spinal canal.
Getting more than 3 RFAs in your lifetime isn't recommended because there's a risk of permanent nerve damage as well as the higher risk that the nerves will repair themselves by either sprouting new, smaller nerves, creating a nerve bundle or "knot", or by sprouting new nerves that create a new nerve pathway. Either repair will increase your problems....specifically, your pain.
The doc who decided not to do the spacer surgery probably did you a favor. Maybe he thinks he hasn't had enough hands-on experience, or he had a bad experience or a poor outcome...or multiple poor outcomes. Or maybe his director or his facility only approves "living" spacers, where they take bone from your ribs to make the spacers, or they either don't have access to viable cadaver bone or they won't use it due to a previous lawsuit or a violation of some sort. (Chain-of-custody violations are fairly common because they're either too ambiguous or too confusing.)
I've had 3 RFAs, and the results were progressively worse...first one was freaking awesome, last one was a huge disappointment. I've had a number of surgeries, and the major one is presenting new problems now, 8 years later.
I do have a suggestion, and it's specifically for stenosis and degeneration of your spine's natural "spacers"
...an inversion table.
Lying on an inversion table set at a 60- to 45-degree angle for 10 to 15 minutes relieves my back pain for 2 to 5 hours. Honestly, I feel like a million bucks for
at least 2 hours, usually more.
Your head is at the low end (probly needless to say) and it plus the trunk of your body are the total weight of the traction your spine will get, so it's never too much traction for your spine to handle and it's extremely unlikely to cause damage. The traction will decompress your spine, opening up those spaces, as well as your spinal canal, allowing spinal fluid to flow more freely, and providing your spinal discs with more of the nutrients the fluid carries.
I gave my inversion table away when I moved into a tiny apartment. But I got very similar relief by hanging from a chin-up bar with the back of my head (but not my shoulders) resting on the floor. After moving into a house, I ordered a new inversion table. The newer ones take up less space, plus they fold up. If the old one did that, I'd have kept it.
(that said, the tension-type chin-up bar was over $200 cheaper)
