May 22
Arthritic Neck Pain Treated with Cervical Radiofrequency Rhizotomy
Helen came to us with several years of neck pain attributed to arthritis in her cervical spine. The pain was severe, caused her headaches and affected her sleep. She had pain in her neck when she turned her head and had difficulty looking around when she was driving. Pain was constant. We evaluated her at Pacific Pain Pain Care, got MRI’s of her cervical spine and diagnosed her with cervical facet arthritis.
The facet joints are small joints in the cervical spine that allow for extension and rotation of the cervical spine. When these get arthritic you get pain in the neck and shoulder blades often with associated headaches when you turn or twist your neck.
In the first instance we treated her with medications and Physical therapy. When this did not relieve her symptoms we performed diagnostic medial branch nerve block in the cervical spine with local anesthetic only. When we were sure she had excellent relief from the diagnostic locks we went on to perform radio frequency ablation/rhizotomy (burning) of these same nerves for long term pain relief. Procedure was done in our office, no sedation was used. She is here 6 weeks post procedure follow up and doing well with less pain and more range of motion of her neck. Able to drive and check her blind spot too..
To discuss your options call 855 854 PAIN (7246). Office locations- Wildomar CA, Corona CA.
Posted on 05/22/2013 at 12:00 AM
