After having chronic pain for numerous years, I finally found a doctor who believed that a healthy 20-something could have chronic pain. Two MRIs later, arthritis was found in my spine (C3-C5, L3-L5). Since then, I’ve been put on pain medication and undergone radio frequency ablations.
I’ve never met anyone else with arthritis in their spine. If you’re out there, please chime in!
Ablations are definitely not a cure all, but they help break the pain cycle. Before I had my ablations, my pain would persist even when resting, eg lying down - now my muscles are actually able to catch a break. This gives me the chance to work on exercises and other long term investments into my health.
If you’re in the US, you’ll probably undergo trial shots first, where they inject you with lidocaine or some other painkiller. You’ll be able to tell right away if it helps. I hope you have the opportunity to give that a try!