Can Radiofrequency Ablation Help Chronic Neck Pain and Headaches?

Headaches – they’re a pain in the neck.

Literally.

Have you ever considered that your splitting headache and your lingering neck soreness could be related? Even, interconnected?

These two symptoms are linked more often than we realize, with one even causing the other.

And there’s a surprising fix: heat and energy.

Let’s jump into the world of radiofrequency ablation – and find out when and why it could be a good option for you.

Why neck pain can cause headaches

We call these cervicogenic headaches – when the brain misinterprets neck pain as head pain. They happen because pain signals from your upper neck and from your face congregate in the same place.

At the back of your spine, you have what are called cervical facet joints – the connectors between each of your vertebrae. They facilitate smooth and stable neck movement. When those joints become inflamed or arthritic, that can send pain signals that manifest at the base of the skull, behind the eyes, or around the temples. That’s because your upper neck nerves are in constant communication with the nerves that process head and face sensations. So the pain shows up in the head, but it originates in the neck.

Your occipital nerve pathways – originating in the base of the skull – operate much the same way. When this group of sensory nerves is compressed, you can feel a shooting pain at the top of your scalp.

What is radiofrequency ablation

Once we can identify the specific nerve set that is causing your pain, we can attack it with a focused procedure.

Radiofrequency ablation delivers a combination of electrical current and heat to selectively destroy troublesome tissue. The goal is to limit the nerve’s ability to transmit pain signals, turning down the volume on your shooting pain. By using energy rather than an injected medication, RFA can deliver far longer lasting results – typically six to 24 months rather than just a few weeks.

What we do BEFORE we get to RFA

Radiofrequency ablation is an advanced treatment meant for patients with chronic, long-lasting pain. In other words, we don’t start with RFA. Before we get there, medical professionals will try a range of conservative, less invasive options.

In the first stage of treatment, we’ll try a range of medications that may provide temporary pain relief. Physical therapy could be recommended in order to improve neck function, including strength and mobility. We may work with a patient to correct or improve posture.

The second stage consists of minimally invasive diagnostic procedures. The aim here is to determine a cause and confirm the pain source. A diagnostic medial branch block and occipital nerve block involve local anesthetic injected near specific nerves carrying pain signals from problem areas to the brain. By temporarily shutting off targeted nerves and monitoring pain, we can identify the specific pain transmitter.

Once we’ve tried these non-invasive and minimally invasive techniques and identified a pain source, we can attack the problem a little more aggressively.

How to know if you’re a good candidate

You’ve dealt with chronic neck pain for months now and it’s clearly affecting your ability to go about your life the way you’d like to. You’ve met with a medical professional and tried their conservative care to no avail. Moving into slightly more targeted treatments, you’ve had a positive response to nerve blocks and we have confidently identified that your headaches are linked to the cervical spine (and a precise origin). It’s a hard road – but the good news is you’re ready for the next step.

If all the above is true, you sound like a strong candidate for radiofrequency ablation.

If your diagnosis remains unclear, or if you haven’t responded positively to nerve blocks, then radiofrequency ablation won’t be for you. At this point, your medical professional will continue to explore other avenues for treatment. If your problem seems to stem from structural instability, you may even require surgery.

The procedure

Radiofrequency ablation is a procedure that disrupts your nerves’ ability to transmit pain signals to the brain. Here’s what to expect.

The patient lies face down and is administered a local anesthetic. Following some testing to confirm the precise location, the physician will deliver radiofrequency energy through a needle, which sends heat toward the target nerve to create a small lesion. The goal is not to destroy the nerve, but to affect its ability to transmit those pain signals that have been causing your discomfort.

Patients are monitored following the procedure and often sent home the same day. You can experience mild soreness and temporary neck stiffness lasting a few days, but noticeable improvement within a few weeks.

The procedure is not permanent, but can provide meaningful pain relief for several months or more than a year in some cases. Repeat treatment is safe and often required if the pain returns once the effects of the ablation dissipate. While RFA is not designed to cure arthritis or chronic pain, it is a targeted, long-lasting therapy that significantly exceeds the effects of many temporary injections.

How Hudson Pain and Spine can help

Folks in the Englewood, New Jersey area with chronic head and neck pain should contact Hudson Pain and Spine. Dr. Saurabh Dang, a double board-certified pain management specialist and an expert in radiofrequency ablation. He can help determine the best course of action for you.

If your pain lasts more than two weeks, includes radiating pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness, and limits your ability to work, sleep, or do normal activities, contact Hudson Pain and Spine to schedule a consultation.

Hudson Pain and Spine 25 Rockwood Place, Suite 335, Englewood, NJ 07631 Phone: (201) 605-9000