This procedure does not change the joint. The joint stays exactly as it was — worn, stiff, whatever the years made it. What changes is the small nerve reporting from it, which is interrupted so the message stops arriving.
That distinction explains both its strength and its limit. It is unusually effective at removing a specific, well-identified ache, and it does nothing at all about stiffness, posture, or the strength that has drained away while you were guarding.
Interventional appointments run at Mesa in the East Valley and at Westgate in Glendale. Both have fluoroscopy on site, which is what allows the probe position to be confirmed before any current is used.
Assessment happens wherever is convenient across the valley clinics, including Deer Valley, North Phoenix on Dunlap, Peoria and Chandler. The two procedure appointments are then booked at whichever of Mesa or Westgate is on your side of the Loop 101.
A short-acting diagnostic block comes first and gives an answer within hours. If it confirms the joints, the ablation follows at a later appointment.
Physical Therapy is not paused for any of this. It runs alongside, and the point of creating a quiet window is to make the strengthening finally tolerable. Chiropractic care and Acupuncture sit in the same plan where they are helping.
Soreness at the site for up to a week is normal and occasionally the back feels worse before it feels better. Ice helps. Heat usually does not, in the first few days.
By week three most people know where they have landed. A partial result still counts and often means a second level is contributing, which the record and the next examination will sort out.
Most major commercial plans are accepted in Arizona and we are in network with most Medicare Advantage plans. AHCCCS is accepted for Pain Management only. Benefits are verified before your first visit.
Collision-related pain is billed through the auto policy or an attorney lien, and workplace injuries through the carrier on the claim. Assessment needs no referral and there is usually something within the same week.
The radiofrequency ablation page covers the procedure generally; Pain Management in Phoenix covers the rest.
Other Phoenix pages by complaint: sciatica treatment in Phoenix, herniated disc treatment in Phoenix, low back pain treatment in Phoenix, neck pain treatment in Phoenix, knee pain treatment in Phoenix and neuropathy treatment in Phoenix. And by procedure: epidural steroid injection in Phoenix, spinal cord stimulator trials in Phoenix, kyphoplasty in Phoenix and nerve block in Phoenix.
Every clinic below has Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, Acupuncture and Pain Management on one chart, so care can move between them without a new referral.
Downtown out through the north, west, south and east suburbs.
Academy, InterQuest and Tenderfoot cover the north, central and south of the city.
Harmony in Fort Collins and our Greeley clinic serve Larimer and Weld counties.
Across the Valley, from the West Valley through Phoenix to the East Valley.
Mesa or Westgate, both with fluoroscopy on site. You go to whichever is on your side of the valley.
No. It regrows over time, which is why the effect has a horizon and the procedure can be repeated.
Yes. Certainty from the outside is common and often wrong, and the block is the only way to confirm the joints are the source.
Walk from day one. Loaded exercise is worth deferring a few days while the site settles, then resumed deliberately.
An epidural targets inflammation around a nerve root and helps pain that travels. This targets the nerves reporting from a joint and helps pain that stays put.
The same approach applies at the cervical levels when the examination and the block point to those joints.
For Pain Management only. Most major commercial plans are accepted and most Medicare Advantage plans are in network in Arizona.
Usually within the same week for an assessment, with the procedure appointments booked from there.
Radiofrequency Ablation is performed in office at our Mesa and Westgate clinics. No referral is needed to be evaluated, and appointments are usually available within the same week.
