Our bodies are constantly being bombarded everyday from wifi, cell phone signals, and radio waves. Have you ever wondered if this constant stimulation could cause any sort of effect on the human body? Well interestingly enough, physicians have found a way to use radio waves to treat pain in the body.
Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA) is a procedure conducted by producing radio waves to heat up a small area of nerve tissue to stop it from sending pain signals.
RFA is conducted by inserting a thin needle into the affected pain area. A small microelectrode is sent through the needle to emit small radio frequencies that heat the nerve tissue. This will impair the nerve tissue's ability to send pain signals to your brain, thus giving you relief.
RFA can be used to treat patients with chronic back and neck pain, and arthritis. Pain relief from RFA can last up to 6 to 12 months with a 70% success rate in reducing chronic pain. An advantage of RFA is the decrease in need of anti-inflammatory and opioid pain medication. Patients could potentially greatly reduce the necessary medications they are taking in order to deal with pain.
Common side effects of the procedure are very minimal, including minor bruising and swelling at the location of the treatment. The swelling and bruising will generally dissipate after a few days.
If you are experiencing chronic pain that has not responded to other treatmenst then RFA could be right for you. Please contact me if interested as we are currently performing RFA on patients with chronic pain.
