Pain Management procedure this morning.

Just local anesthesia in doctor's office. No thank you to Xanax or Valium. I don't get anxious about stuff like this after having my neck and back injected a couple hundred times over the last 30 years. In fact, I am going alone and driving myself. Radio-Frequency Ablation is the name of the procedure. In my case, it is being used to burn away four upper thoracic (T4-7) sensory nerve-roots.

Basically, it's simply a needle tip placed up against the nerve root and then an electric current from wires attached to the needles. The microwave tip of the needle heats up. This, in turn, burns away the nerve root. The procedure has multiple other uses. But, the cool thing is that the doctor uses video fluoroscopy: x-ray video streaming in real time like a movie. I actually like watching the needle as it approaches my spine. 🤦

Lasts 18-36 months. Had it several years ago and it worked well. I have had two sets of trial injections of local anesthesia to the nerve roots and both were highly successful.

rfenst wrote:

So, I have been trying to get cuaght up on all that "you turned 50, go see a doctor" stuff and today, in addition to some bloodwork I got the first dose of the shingles vaccine. I have gotten a LOT of shots in my life, but this was the first time I heard the syringe "gurgle" as she gave me the shot. It sounded like when you try to squeeze out the last bit of dish soap from a squirt bottle. I asked the "tech" who gave me the shot what the noise was and she didn't really answer. Maybe it was just a well timed fart or something.

Stogie1020 wrote:

Did you get fingered yet?

jeebling wrote:

Wishing you all the best for a speedy recovery Robert. =d>

Ram27 wrote:

Saw orthopedic again last week for my frozen shoulder (aka adhesive capsulitis). Injection, given at first visit one month ago, did nothing.

I don't like his suggestion that it will resolve without surgery in another 6-18 months.

That's way too long for me... I have not swam in six months now. So, yesterday I had a second MRI because the first one's quality "sucked" and it might show interval change over the last two months.

Maybe he will find that it is something that a simple arthroscopy will fix. If not, perhaps p.t., but I have been doing it myself and it is not helping.

Why can't I just have a little problem that plainly requires a minimally invasive, very simple, arthroscopy to fix?

rfenst wrote: