Wave of Relief: Radiofrequency Ablation for Back Pain
April 2, 2025 12:20 pmRadiofrequency Ablation: Retired Army Paratrooper finds lasting relief
Retired Army Paratrooper A. Peterson, knows firsthand about back pain. Completing more than 100 paratrooper jumps in 10 years and multiple overseas deployments, Peterson experienced chronic low back pain for several years. The pain affected her everyday life from household chores to enjoying time with grandchildren. After trying medications, epidural and facet injections, she received her first radiofrequency ablation five years ago and describes the treatment as “life changing.” Read more about this non-surgical treatment option below.
Prevalence of Back & Neck Pain: Who is a candidate for RFA?
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive procedure using heat waves to interrupt signals from painful nerves to the brain. This procedure is often performed for persistent low back and neck pain. Back and neck pain affect up to 80% of the population during their lifetime largely due to the complex nature of the spine. The spine provides not only support and movement but also protection of the delicate spinal cord and nerves. These spinal nerves act as the pathway for pain signals between the brain and the rest of the body.
Back pain can originate from multiple areas of the spine – from discs, nerves and the joints connecting the vertebrae in the spine known as facet joints. These joints, like others in the body, experience wear and tear, like Peterson’s, or degeneration due to aging. Near the facet joints, medial branch nerves are located and play a key role in transmitting pain signals from the facet joints to the brain.
Dr. Morris Scherlis, Anesthesiology & Pain Management specialist with Tennessee Valley Pain Consultants, treats Peterson and patients like her with minimally invasive procedures to help relieve pain without surgery.
“Often times causes of back pain in a patient can be multifactorial. The anatomic structures that can cause this pain include muscles, ligaments, tendons, SI joints, the discs themselves, nerves a and even the small joints that separate the vertebrate, called the facet joint. Once injections verify the cause, and you respond well to these, we can then denervate these small joints with radiofrequency,” Dr. Scherlis said.
To determine if a patient’s pain is from the facet joints, the physician performs a medial branch nerve block. A medial branch block is an injection bathing the affected nerves with numbing medication. These are generally done in a series of three. Patients who receive relief from the blocks are then considered candidates for Radiofrequency Ablation. RFA is a longer lasting treatment where heat is applied to the nerves stopping the transmittal of pain signals to the brain. These nerves regrow after 6-24 months at which time patients can consider another procedure for relief.
“Before treatments, I was scared I was going to do something and feel the pain, so it limited what I could do. Cleaning the house would put me on the couch or in bed for a couple days. I couldn’t go out with the grandkids, pick the grandkids up,” Peterson said. “But now, I don’t have that issue. I’m free to do whatever. We’re traveling, flying overseas, all kinds of things. I never would’ve thought about doing those things previously. Now, I just have freedom.”
Paratroopers like Peterson perform dives as part of training and service.
Since receiving ablations, Peterson no longer requires pain medications and stresses the importance of the physician’s expertise. “My physician uses x-ray and other technology to see where the intervention needs to be, so they have the exact location of where the pain is coming from…this allows them to observe everything.”
How RFA works
Radiofrequency Ablations is an outpatient procedure performed under x-ray guidance. Tennessee Valley Pain Consultants has five outpatient procedure suites dedicated for their physicians in Huntsville Hospital’s Governors Medical Tower. When a patient arrives, they are sedated under a local anesthetic to ensure a comfortable experience. A small hallow needle called a cannula is inserted into the nerve causing your pain. This cannula is guided by a video x-ray device called a fluoroscope to ensure precise placement. An electrode then travels through the cannula. After testing to make sure the electrode is connected to the painful nerve, the nerve is heated or “blocked.” A radiofrequency current is passed through the needle creating a heat lesion on the nerve blocking the nerve from transmitting pain signals to the brain. The procedures takes place in approximately 20 minutes at which time patients will recover and typically discharged within an hour.
What kind of relief can I expect from an RFA?
You may feel discomfort for about a week after each RFA procedure. But you’ll likely experience significant pain relief for 6 to 24 months after each RFA, which may be longer than steroid block injections. RFAs are also steroid-free, making them a suitable treatment option for patients who can’t tolerate steroid medications, such as those with diabetes. According to Dr. Scherlis, “An RFA will frequently give many months of relief from back pain, allowing exercise and resumption of normal activities. This is not a cure, and the nerves will grow back, but it can be a life-changing non-surgical procedure.”
How can Tennessee Valley Pain Consultants help?
As the region’s experts in minimally invasive procedures, the physicians at Tennessee Valley Pain Consultants create individualized care plans that work for the patient’s unique pain. “If your doctors know a treatment isn’t working any more, they will give you options for other procedures to prevent surgery. That in and of itself proves they’re looking forward to other avenues. They don’t just stay stagnant,” Peterson said.
To see if an RFA is right for you to achieve freedom from pain, click here to book an appointment with one of their pain management specialists.
This post was written by Tennessee Valley Pain Consultants