Does Nerve Burning Work?

[DesperateWife833]

I was wondering if anyone has had their nerve burnt to relieve pain caused by damaged nerve.  My husband has the following symptoms (sharp pains in arm, numb thumb and two fingers next to thumb) combined with severe hand pain.

He was injured during a massage where the guy put his elbow in his neck and leaned all his body weight on it.  He has had his C5 C6 and C6 C7 discs removed a fused.  He has had 8 spinal blocks.  Nothing has helped.  Our new doctor is talking about burning the nerve.  

Does burning the nerve/nerves work and for how long.  Can it cause any damage.  

[Puresole1112]

I've had the procedure done and  I agree that it does work but it does take time;  however I've had several injections by my Pain Management Dr;  I Know want to know if my feet swelling to the point that they look like
Rasputia, from the movie Norbit with Eddie Murphy, and it's no exaggeration
It's happened after the RFA Procedure every time!  I've never associated it with that and I've never mentioned to my Dr, however I'm going to call tomorrow because it will be 1, on Friday April 17th, 2015.  HELP

[philnoir]

When you do, open a new  thread - you have to first join the forum, and then you can post new threads.

I will be curious to see if your stem cell treatment works for multiple discs.

[lilglitterbug01]

Thank you for your comment.  I will have a conversation with my doctor regarding this issue.  I have never had any inklings from any doctors about MS.  I've had MRI's of the spine and brain with no signs of MS.  I do have multiple disc herniations with complete effacement of the thecal sac on the corresponding discs (C3-4 and 4-5).  

I am a licensed massage therapist so maybe all my elbow work has caused some compression issues.  I will work on that in my career.   Like I said in my previous comment, I am planning on having stem cell injections into the effected regions to help heal the herniations.  I am looking forward to my consultation and hopefully a following procedure.  I will post any additional information I receive and how the stem cell injections go if I am a candidate.  

To all those suffering, please keep your spirits up.  It took me 4 years to finally get some real help and relief from my pain.  Just a reminder these procedures are not a "cure" for these types of issues.  They can/will help with the pain but are a bigger "band-aid" than cortisone injections/pain meds for your underlying issues.  Do your research on any doctor doing any procedures as well as newer/alternative treatments for your conditions.  

Thanks again to all, and I will post more info as it comes.
:)

[philnoir]

When the nerve grows back, the pain returns.

The 'funny bone' feelings you are experiencing are called parasthesias, and come when the nerve is under compression, or the nerve's myelin coating is destroyed in a disease like multiple sclerosis. Perhaps you have nerve root damage from disc disease? Ask your doctor.

In general, nerve ablations last a year or two, and seem to become more effective with repeated procedures.

Some dangers of RFA -- some people develop a kind of sunburn-like rash around the ablation site. This is easily treated with steroid creams.

More serious complications occur when the practitioner misplaces the probe and cuts an artery, or a motor nerve. This can cause internal bleeding that requires immediate attention (the artery), or partial paralysis (motor nerve).

These complications are very rare with an experienced practitioner, so find yourself an interventional pain physician who's been practicing a few years and has completed over 1000 of these procedures for best results.

[lilglitterbug01]

I had a RFA surgery roughly 6 weeks ago.  The procedure has helped as far as my headaches and neck pain.  I am in question of what the symptoms of the nerve growing back are?  I am having a tingling sensation on my hands and inner forearms as well as constant pain that feels like I hit my funny bone in my elbow.  I am assuming that these are symptoms of the nerve growing back but am unsure.  I am pleased with the procedure overall.  Now to move onto stem cell (my own stem cells) injections to help heal the multiple herinations I have in my neck and lower back and hopefully get rid of the pain all together.  I would appreciate any feedback that anyone has.  As far as advice from me, the RFA procedure as stated by my Dr is a roughly 50/50 chance.  It happened to work well for me.  I have noted a decrease in the intensity and frequency of my headaches that I have had non-stop with spikes of brain racking pain for about 4 years now.  The constant headache is gone.  I do get spikes but they are no where near how intense as they were originally.  Again any help on my current issues would be much appreciated.

Thanks :)

[scoutdude]

I've had a nerve burn in my neck to control severe pain and tortoculis on my left side of my shoulder and neck. It was done in 2008 and was very effective for a about 2 years. It wasn't painful or very invasive. However its crap shoot if they get the right nerve. To many Dr.s have godlike complexs and don't always go the extra mile for you when you or your loved ones are in pain.     best wishes and Godspeed to you!!!