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Radiofrequency Ablation Treatment Near Me in New Jersey

Radiofrequency Ablation in New Jersey

Find quality radiofrequency ablation treatment in New Jersey by contacting NJ Pain Care Specialists at (732) 590-4030.

If you live with chronic pain, then you know how difficult it can be to do what were once routine activities. Whether due to arthritis, injury, or surgeries, chronic pain can impact multiple aspects of your life, so it’s essential to find a treatment that can help improve your quality of life and get it back on track.

At NJ Pain Care Specialists, our radiofrequency ablation experts in NJ are passionate about helping patients find relief. Radiofrequency ablation is a unique procedure that uses radio waves to help patients achieve pain relief by preventing their nerves from sending the brain pain signals.

This procedure offers numerous benefits to patients in New Jersey suffering from a wide range of pain conditions. 

What Is Radiofrequency Ablation, and How Does it Work?

Basically, the procedure uses radiofrequency to heat up tissue in the pain-impacted site on your body. This creates a heat lesion on targeted nerves, which prevents them from sending pain signals to your brain. As a result, your brain doesn’t know to tell your body to feel pain, so you can enjoy reduced pain and discomfort.

While treatment results vary from patient to patient, around 70% of patients experience relief that lasts for a year or longer, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

The Different Types of Radiofrequency Ablation

No two patients experience pain the same way, so physicians will use careful examination to determine which treatment options are best suited to help their patient achieve their physical and well-being goals. If your doctor suggests this treatment to address your chronic pain, it’s important for you to remember that you have multiple options regarding the type of radiofrequency ablation. These include:

Conventional/Thermal

Conventional radiofrequency ablation uses heat to destroy nerve tissue and prevent it from sending pain signals to the brain. 

Water-Cooled

These treatments produce longer lesions by lowering temperatures below conventional/thermal radiofrequency ablation procedures. They do this by using a constant flow of water and multichannel electrodes.

Are You a Candidate for Radiofrequency Ablation?

Physicians use radiofrequency ablation to treat a wide range of pain-causing conditions. Typically, this treatment option is ideal for those suffering from long-term pain who have yet to find relief from other methods like physical therapy or medications. Speaking with your doctor is the best way to determine whether this procedure could be beneficial for you, but ideal candidates are typically those who suffer from the following conditions:

  • Leg pain
  • Back pain
  • Neck pain
  • Arthritic pain
  • Lower back pain
  • Knee pain

Success rates vary with each condition and patient, but according to recent studies, radiofrequency ablation has a 75 to 85% success rate for treating pain in the lower back and 45 to 60% for spine pain.

Who Is Not a Good Candidate for Radiofrequency Ablation?

Typically, patients on blood thinning medications are not ideal candidates for this type of treatment. In addition, you may not be a good candidate if you have ever had a bad reaction to local anesthetic blocks or if you have an infection. 

To determine whether you could benefit from this procedure, your doctor will examine your medical history, current symptoms, and risk profile.

Effectively Disables Nerve Pain

Radiofrequency ablation has been used for many years to provide long-term relief for patients with predominantly neck, thoracic and low back pain of originating from spinal joints. Radiofrequency ablation applies heat to disable nerves.

What Causes the Need for Radiofrequency Ablation?

The facet joints are the joints in the spine that are the contact points between the vertebral bodies or bones of the spine. These joints can be injured in work-related incidents, motor vehicle accidents, everyday activities, or they can be affected by the natural aging process.  The pain from these joints can cause, for example, back pain that radiates down the back of the legs to the knees. The pain usually worsens with back extension, or bending backward to look up at the sky.

How is Radiofrequency Ablation Done?

Prior to radiofrequency ablation, a test injection or injections – known as a facet nerve or medial branch block – must be performed to isolate the nerves that supply the facet joints with local anesthesia:

  • The patient is brought into the procedure or operating room and, after very light sedation, needles are gently inserted into these small facet nerves, and local anesthetic – with or without a small amount of steroid – is injected. (These nerves are not involved in sensation or motor function in the arms or legs.)
  • Then, throughout the day, the patient keeps a diary of his or her pain. If there is a significant drop in pain – which is due to the temporary local anesthetic effect – the patient is considered to be a potential candidate for radiofrequency ablation. 

Radiofrequency ablation is performed much like the medial branch block, but there are some differences:

  • This procedure is done with very light sedation after applying generous local anesthesia to the neck, mid or low back.  The radiofrequency needles are inserted into the target areas and then there is a testing phase to make sure the needles are not near motor nerves and potentially sensory nerves. 
  • Once the doctor is satisfied with the needle placement on x-ray and by testing the nerves, the radiofrequency procedure is carried out. 
  • Deeper sedation is given to the patient before the radiofrequency ablation. The radiofrequency ablation portion of the procedure usually takes 6-8 minutes. The entire procedure takes usually 20-30 minutes.

What Happens Afterward?

The patient goes home. For a small percentage of patients, the procedure might actually aggravate their pain for several weeks. This is not a common occurrence. Also, in the area where the procedure was performed, numbness might be experienced, and it could last for several weeks or longer. 

How Long Does Pain Relief Last?

The radiofrequency ablation can help relieve pain anywhere from 3-18 months.

Please feel free to contact us at New Jersey Pain Care Specialists to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about your own situation. Dr. Bram and staff will give you the time and attention to properly understand and accurately diagnose your condition, and to recommend the most advanced, non-invasive, effective and efficient treatment to eliminate or relieve your pain.

Learn More About Radiofrequency Ablation for Back Pain and Other Conditions

Does chronic back, neck, leg, or other pain make what were once routine tasks now challenging? Radiofrequency ablation could help you find the solution you need to improve your quality of life in New Jersey. 

At NJ Pain Care Specialists, we offer a wide range of treatments to help patients like you find relief from chronic pain, including radiofrequency ablation and spinal cord stimulation. We use state-of-the-art technology to provide unmatched care to our patients. This, combined with our medical professionals’ passion for helping people, makes us New Jersey’s go-to source for pain relief. 

If you suffer from seemingly unending pain, give our clinic a call at (732) 590-4030 to schedule your appointment in New Jersey. Our doctors accept most insurance plans, including workers’ compensation, no-fault, and PIP (personal injury protection). Same-day appointments may be available.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Radiofrequency Ablation Have Any Side Effects?

While radiofrequency ablation is a safe and low-risk procedure, there is still a chance for some patients to experience side effects. These can include muscle soreness,  temporary itching at the injection site, skin hypersensitivity, and temporary tingling or numbness. 

In more severe cases, patients can also experience damage to blood vessels, nerves, or muscles.

How Long Do the Results Last?

Patients often experience long-lasting pain relief following a radiofrequency ablation procedure, although the actual duration varies from person to person. Although not permanent, this treatment often gives patients 3 to 18 months of pain relief following a single procedure. In many cases, patients are able to come off pain medications or avoid needing surgery.

If you don’t notice much of a difference in your pain levels after the procedure, your pain specialist may suggest repeating the treatment in another two or three weeks.

Does Radiofrequency Ablation Require a Recovery Period?

Due to the minimally invasive nature of this procedure, patients don’t typically have to worry about a long recovery period. However, you will go to a recovery room immediately after the procedure to rest before going home.

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