I can't find the person's post (Gina) to which I wanted to reply, so I'm just going to put this out there. One of several reasons they do RFA on one side at a time is that pain on one side often sensitizes the other side, so they want to sort out what pain belongs to which side. I have had spinal stenosis for many years and, when I finally got to the right doctor, begged to have both sides done at once. He explained the rationale for starting with my left side (S5-L1). After the initial discomfort of having my nerves retracting from being burned, I had complete relief for five months; the only time I had breakthough was when I decided that I was headed for the olympics and overdid it. They supplied me with a TENS unit and blessed lidocaine patches. I had it repeated five months later; same story. I've now had some return of pain and am counting down the hours until I can call my pain center tomorrow morning to let them know that my usual five months is up- and I will be there for my appointment with bells on my toes. RFA, like any procedure, is only as good as the physician who performs it. Anyone in the Massachusetts area should check out the Boston Pain Care Center in Waltham, MA. Not only did they save my life and give me back my full enjoyment of it, they are kind people. Re: anesthesia- the standard, according to the literature, is a local of lidocaine or novocaine, along with conscious sedation with Versed and a painkiller like Fentanyl. My anesthesiologist was perfectly happy to squirt in extra meds whenever I felt any discomfort. Recovery time at the center was about 2 hours, no driving for 24 hours, and then pain meds for the time during which the spinal nerves were retracting. I would do 100 times rather than go back to not being able to roll over in bed without screaming; BUT, I wouldn't look in the phone book under "back surgeons" and expect any joker who says they do the procedure to be able to do it properly. Ask how many they've done and for statistics on their outcomes.