Zap Back Pain Away With Pulsated Radio Frequency

Pittsburgh Woman Gets Relief After Years Of Suffering

PITTSBURGH -- Pulsated radio frequency can bring relief for some of the most common things that cause back pain.

WTAE Channel 4 Action News anchor Michelle Wright talked with Barbara Drozd, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.

"I just have to get off my feet. I can't bear it. It's just terrible," Drozd said.

The pain started 11 years ago, and she suffered until she tried pulsated radio frequency from Dr. Doris Cope at UPMC St. Margaret hospital.

"This helps because the tiny pain fibers that enervate these arthritic joints are stunned. It's like resetting your computer," said Cope, an anesthesiologist with a sub-specialty in pain medicine.

Cope targets the area in the sacroiliac joint and pulses heat to ablate the nerve and stop the pain. It takes less than an hour.

Drozd went home the same day of the procedure. The solution is only temporary, but it can offer a year of relief.

"Pulse radio frequency is a procedure that has very minimal downside, because we're not destroying any nerves, nor are we doing any harm to the anatomy," Cope said.

In addition to arthritis, the procedure can treat whiplash, degenerative disc disease and other common problems that can't be helped with many other treatments.

Drozd has three active granddaughters and wanted to share the story of how she zapped her pain away with Channel 4 Action News to show that living with constant pain is unnecessary.

"People feel like pain is something that you should just take. I've learned here, and the nurses and the whole staff here is so understanding of that, and they don't look down on you. It just allows me to be myself," Drozd said.

Pulsated radio frequency costs a couple of hundred dollars and is not covered by insurance.

ThePittsburghChannel.com