RFA didn't work :(

Seems as if I posted my question in the wrong place. New to the community, my apologies.
Anyway....I was scheduled to get RFA early Feb. Laying on the table and everything. After 20 minutes of the Dr. doing his thing, he finally said that he couldn't "in all good practice" continue the procedure due to the fact that if he finished, some of the muscles that would be affected would spasm for the rest of my life. Luckily I have a practitioner who thinks long range. The question now is "what's next?" I have an appt with him next week to talk about other options. He mentioned a possible Lumbar epidural. Anyone have success with this or a similar situation?

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you? Radiofrequency ablation or RFA can be used to help patients with chronic low-back and neck pain and pain related to the degeneration of joints from arthritis. However RFA is not appropriate for everyone. With regards to lumbar epidural steroid shots, this management are usually tried after non-invasive treatments have not proven successful prior to surgery. However, the effect of an epidural injection is limited and success rates also vary depending on the condition, symptoms present and over all health of patient. A better response is also seen when the epidural steroid injections are coupled with an organized therapeutic exercise program. Talk to your doctor about this for proper evaluation. Take care and do keep us posted with regards to your follow-up. Best regards.

[deenie522]

Thanks so much for your expertise. I have my appt on Monday for a follow up and I'm hoping that we can come up with some sort of treatment plan. Some days I seem to be ok and some days, excruciating pain. I've been taking Ibuprofen 800 for prob 3 years which helps. I have Vicodin in the medicine cabinet but would rather deal with a little pain and take the Ibuprofen than to take that. I usually rely on that for the worst days. However I'd rather be on nothing at all. I guess I'll see what he has in mind and go from there.