Arthritis is a very common disease, but it is often misunderstood. Arthritis is actually not pinpointed as a single disease, but instead an overall reference to joint stiffness, joint pain, or joint disease. People of all ages can have arthritis, and it is the leading cause of disability in America. In fact, more than 50 million adults and 300,000 children have some type of arthritis pain. If you’re at your wits end with this pain, our Oklahoma Pain Treatment Centers team can address this problem with an alternative treatment known as radiofrequency ablation.

Simply put, radiofrequency ablation is a procedure used to reduce pain. It works by sending electrical currents (produced by a radio wave) to heat up a small area of nerve tissue. This action interrupts nerves that go directly to the individual facet joints which, in turn, decreases pain signals from that specific area.

Radiofrequency ablation may sound like a strange treatment, but rest assured that patients receiving this treatment from our pain management OKC doctor are monitored with an EKG, a blood pressure cuff, and an oxygen-monitoring device to ensure that vitals are fine. The procedure only takes about 20 minutes to an hour to complete, and the patient is numbed with a local anesthetic before our Dr. Christensen utilizes either x-ray or fluoroscopy to position introducer needles in the correct position based on bony landmarks that indicate where the nerves are usually located.

It is reported that approximately 70 percent of our Oklahoma Pain Treatment Centers patients will get a good block of the intended nerve. This should work to relieve that part of the pain that the blocked nerve controls. Sometimes after a nerve is blocked, patients realize that there is pain from other areas as well, which can then be addressed.

If you’re already undergoing treatment for your arthritis but you’d like to know whether radiofrequency ablation would be something you’d consider, you can click here to read more about this procedure.

If you’d like to set up an appointment to talk about your arthritis treatment options with Dr. Christensen of Oklahoma Pain Treatment Centers, then please feel free to schedule an appointment by calling 405-751-0011.