Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group SI radiofrequency ablation---number 5!

I will ask my PM when I see him. He has been giving me the steroid shots in my SI and facet joints. Last year I was so bad off that he said I had to wait because I had had too many.The nurse did say that if I needed it, I could try the ablation. Perhaps I will this year. So far, this year, most of my pain has been in my wrists and hands.

Donna, I think it is worth a try if your SI still bothers you. My doc only put steroid in the SI joint (each side) one time. Just flat refused to do any more steroids there. RF was my only option. But it works well. Doing the lumbar facets didn't do much for me, but steroids didn't help much there, either. I tried two times each, steroids and RF in lumbar area. Nothing. Epidurals work good, though.

I have had the SI injected with steroids twice, plus a few facet joints and epidurals. Most of the time they helped a lot. I had one epidural in my neck that did nothing. Now that I am using Remicade, I have much less back pain. Most of my problems are in my hands, wrists, shoulders and neck. The neck pain is because of a bulging disk on C6. I have really be happy with the results of the injections. The first injection into my SI gave me at least 9 months of relief.

I had 2 or 3 weeks of increased pain after the ablations but it was so worth it. He always encouraged me to go in around the first of November so I could enjoy the holidays more.

It is the best pain management procedure of all as far as I am concerned. :o)

I agree, Possi. My favorite one. Steroid into SI lasted me about 2 weeks. In 6 months, insurance will allow it to be repeated, and that will be 2 months before a trip to Hawaii, the Big Island. Works out just fine. This whole procedure went so much better overall than the one before it. Whew.

It's two weeks post-procedure and it's already starting to hurt much less. Had a horrid day on Thursday, but that might have been from the sudden cold snap we got last few days. Put the electric blanket on the bed Friday morning and slept so much better that night.