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When you’re dealing with chronic back pain, little else in life can be enjoyed. The agonizing and sometimes debilitating discomfort can cause us to lose out on the important things, like spending time with our families, being productive at work and even the simplest daily activities can require monumental strength to muster through them. One of the most widespread causes of lower back pain is osteoarthritis of the spine. This causes the joints and discs cartilage to break down. Often times, bone spurs will occur, which lead to nerve pressure on the spinal column. Nerve pain will cause numbness, weakness, pain and tingling in the arms, neck, and legs. When pain medications, NSAID’s, physical therapy and other alternative treatments nose-dive, patients should know that a minimally invasive procedure is commonly used to treat the nerves in the lower back effectively. Unlike traditional back surgery, which can be intimidating for many patients, a minimally invasive procedure using light sedation and local anesthesia called lumbar radiofrequency ablation is the answer that many individuals are waiting for to alleviate their back pain. The nerve endings in our bodies are directly sensitized by neurotransmitters in the brain. This is how they communicate with us, letting us know that something is awry in our bodies. With lumbar radiofrequency ablation, the nerves that are damaged, narrowed, or impinged, are injected with a low-level of localized heat, causing the nerve to stop sending signals to our brain through an interruption in the nerve conduction.
This procedure is completely safe and effective. It has been used for many years with long-lasting results for people suffering from low back pain. During the procedure, the patient will lie on their stomach, and the neck and spinal area will be treated with a pre-procedural antiseptic. The entire process is performed and monitored under fluoroscopy, which is a moving X-ray that is visible to the surgeon on a digital screen. The nerve endings are then located through a probe that is inserted through a tiny needle into the spinal area. Once the damaged nerve(s) are determined, a small-ablated lesion is created through the controlled heating of the probe through medium frequency alternating current. This will alleviate the pain signals to the brain, allowing the patient to be essentially pain free. The entire procedure takes approximately 30-90 minutes and patients can resume normal activities within a short period of time.
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is able to treat other areas in the body as well. It is commonly used for headaches, facial pain, complex regional pain syndrome, peripheral neuropathies, trigeminal neuralgia, disc denervation, stroke-related pain, and neck pain.
Daryoush Payman, M.D. Dr. Daryoush Payman has been treating patients with acute and chronic low pain back pain for over 17 years. Dr. Payman performed his residency training at The George Washington University in Washington D.C. After graduating from the George Washington University, Dr. Payman Scored in the Top One Percent in the nation on the American Board of Anesthesiology Board Exam. During the following years, he spent his time helping patients return to their lives, pain-free, and happy, by utilizing the most state of the art interventional techniques. Dr. Payman shares the philosophy of trying to achieve results by identifying the cause of low back pain, neck pain, and arthritis of the joints. He then plans an interventional approach unique to each individual patient tailored to addressing the source of the lower back pain. He specializes in Anesthesiology and Interventional Pain Management, where a solution to the problem is approached with procedures to tackle the root of the pain, not just to mask the symptoms with narcotics.
Spine Intervention Specialists, P.A. (352) 391-1750 201 W Guava St #202, Lady Lake, FL 32159
