I have sevre post herpatic neuralgia in my right index finger which is a result of a battle with shingles 3 years ago. The stabbing burning pain in the finger and part of the hand is 24/7 and unbearable at times. I had a SCS implanted last year but it isn't of much use. To get any relief from it I have to turn it so high my arm would shake all over. I'm trying to find a pain doctor who might try radio frequency ablation on the for the finger. Has anyone had any sucess with RFA or any treatment for post herpatic neuralgia?

Hi ~ I had it done on the spinal area, and I didn't have any relief at all from it. I know they got the right nerve, cause they used fluoroscopy ~ so they could see what they were doing. It just didn't work.

The only thing wrong with ablation is it's temporary. You don't get relief for very long at all, as the nerves grow back. The AVERAGE rate of regrowth is one inch per month, so it depends on how much they burn as to how long you'll get relief.

If you have it done, I wish you the best of luck. God bless. Hugs, Lee

I have tried the Radio Frequency injection as treatment for my CRPS and I had no relief from the treatment. After the treatment my pain became worse. I would not reccomend this treatment to my worse enemy. Proceed with caution.

Hello Everyone! Newbie here , I had the nerve block done on my back about a year and half ago , and let me tell you its back with a vengence!!! I saught out new pain doc Here in Bluffton SC and they got me doing beginners pt. After stinulating my back with the tens unit, my shingles is off the chart! Two hours after taking pain meds,thats (2/7.5)muscle relaxer and 80mg celexa,The pain is back within two hours, and now the RF whatever nerve block in lower back and nerve injection they done in my left hip last summer have both got me about to loose my mind< I have very high tolerence to pain and have sever anxiety of doctors because of all I have been through , icluding them almost killing me , putting me on seizure meds aprox 4 or 5 years ago that caused me gran mal seizures and was told I have a brain tumor , which was later discovered was an old injury and the meds were causing my seizures. Now you tell a doctor that and the name of the meds and thier like" thats seizure meds ",, Yep thats what I said :and it caused me severe seizures! ,, SO TELL ME IF THE DOCTOR S WONT LISTEN TO YOU HOW THE HECK DO YOU EVER GET TREATED CORRECTLY , YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE PAIN MEDS OR BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT BUT THEY PUT U THROUGH SO MUCH BULL CRAP OVER AND OVER AGAIN , WHAT THE HECK IS LEFT , HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS ARE FAILING BECAUSE OF ALL THE UNNESSARY SO CALLED TREATMENTS AND TREATING EVERYONE ALIKE , THOUGH EVERYONE OF US ARE DIFFERENT . WE HAVE DIFFERNT GENES DONE DIFERENT WORK , LIFE DIFFERENT LIVES , WERE RAISED DIFFERENT IN DIFFERENT PLACE OF THE WORLD,,, HECK THE WATER ALONE WHEN YOU TRAVEL FROM STATE TO STATE CAN AFFECT YOU , SO WHERE THE HECK DOES THIS STOP,, i PRAY i CAN FIND FRIENDS HERE,, NO NE UNDERSTANDS A PERSON AND WHAT THEY ARE GOING THROUGH UNTIL THEY THEMSELVES HAVE LIVED IT OR DANG CLOSE TO IT ,,GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU !

I had it done to my c-spine. After that 2 weeks of sooooo much pain. I thought my back was on fire. Now there is only numbness. The RFA did not work and now I've so much more pain. I was talked into doing this procedure and all I had before was coping pain but I got greedy and wanted all the pain gone.

Oh I wish, I had not done this. I'm in so much pain now including my neck. Why, why ? ? ?

Please, can anybody look up my first post from 12/13 I think ! ! I'm in pain and can not rewrite this again.

Thank you for caring.

This is an old thread and certainly no positive comments. A friend on another group is asking about this work for 2 of her relatives as they are contemplating it. Any new reviews to add. Thanks.

I had a 9mm tear in my spine in 2012 and have CRPS in all 4 limbs at this point. I am a walking pain episode. I just had this procedure (radio frequency nerve ablation) done Friday and it's Monday morning and I am in some real pain from the procedure. I came here this morning looking for some encouragement after the fact (meaning, looking to be encouraged that after I get through the increased pain that my doctor warned me about, I have something better to look forward to, down the road). I must admit, this thread, at present, isn't doing that for me, lol.

I will try to post back here later (in a few weeks) as to any results I've gotten or not gotten from having it done. The actual procedure isn't that big a deal....some stinging, as described on articles provided in the internet, and when the doctor hit 2 of the more "angry" nerves he ablated, I absolutely felt it, but even so, not a big deal when you live with pain like what we pain patients live with. So, at the end of it all, what we all really care about is whether or not we will get the anticipated results from the procedure.

I have NOT seen anything anywhere, concerning this procedure, which lines up with my personal experiences, so far. For example, after my spine injury in 2012, the left side and top of my left thigh were extremely painful (extremely, like hovering at an 8-9 on the pain scale, for months). That pain has been with me over the years, off and on....gets worse and eases up. This RFA they did Friday has brought all of that back as if I were back to the original spine injury from 2012....which I find interesting (not so much, Im sure you can understand why). Anyway, nothing I read about RFA indicated that specific places where there is a lot of nerve activity in the limb would "light up" when this RFA was done....I've read more that we would feel sunburned on the back (I do...but believe me, there is sunburn and there is the pain I am feeling in the nerves in the limb, and the sunburn is like a cold to double flu).

Anyway, in all the places (at spine L4L5), on the side of my thigh and on the top of the thigh and in ankle/foot, where my RSD/CRPS and prior nerve damage/activity is, this RFA has "lit up" these areas with a vengance, and I am holding my breath, just hoping on hope that it's a part of the process. It is my understanding that I am now waiting for the nerves that were ablated to die off....and so hopefully, as that happens, this new intense pain will die off with it.
I will try to remember to follow up here and share what comes next.