Roughly 80% of adults will experience lower back pain at some point in their lifetime. Unfortunately, these instances of pain can range from minor annoyances to serious and permanent health issues.
Thanks to some hardworking medical professionals and researchers, however, a new approach can significantly help with lower back pain.
According to MedPage Today, pulsed radiofrequency, which is administered into the back with a thin needle (so thin anesthesia is not required), can give patients significant relief in their back, leg, and sciatica pain — even pain that has lasted for more than a year.
“With just a single injection using pulsed radiofrequency, the pain scores went down and quality-of-life scores improved,” said Alessandro Napoli, MD, PhD. of Sapienza University of Rome. “Spine interventions are very common in our community because technology now allows us to use probes very close to the neurostructure instead of going directly into the disc hernia.”
Dr. Napoli and his colleagues presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
Currently, there are a variety of therapies and treatments that exist in order to fight back against chronic lower back pain, but there has yet to be a cure or any one treatment that provides permeant relief. Pulsed radiofrequency for acute back pain could be that revolutionary new form of treatment that medical professionals and sufferers of back pain have been searching for.
“Pulsed radiofrequency creates a nerve modulation, significantly reducing inflammation and its associated symptoms,” added Dr. Napoli.
During the first year of the Sapiens University study, researchers found that the participants in the pulsed radiofrequency group experienced more significant improvements in pain, as well as reduced disability scores compared to the other group that used steroid treatments to combat back pain.
Additionally, the researchers states a probability of perceived recovery in 95% of pulsed radiofrequency group participants, compared with only 61% in the steroid injection group.