A New One-Time Procedure for Back Pain
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Tried Everything for Your Back Pain? Here’s What You Haven’t Tried Yet
If you’ve dealt with low back pain for more than six months, you’ve probably tried the usual fixes. Physical therapy. Over-the-counter medication. Maybe even an injection or two. But if the relief never quite lasts, the source of your pain might be something most treatments don’t address at all.
Struggling with chronic back pain that won’t quit? CMC Orthopaedics and CMC Pain Management both offer the Intracept Procedure, a one-time treatment designed to target pain at its source. Learn how to schedule a consultation today.
What Is Vertebrogenic Pain?
Not all back pain starts in the same place. Some pain comes from muscles. Some pain comes from discs. But a specific type, called vertebrogenic pain, starts inside the bone of the vertebra itself.
Here’s how it happens. The endplates are the bony surfaces that sit between each vertebra and the spinal discs. When those endplates become damaged, they can irritate a nerve called the basivertebral nerve. That nerve then sends ongoing pain signals to the brain, and typical back pain treatments often don’t reach it.
This is exactly the kind of pain the Intracept Procedure was designed to treat.
How the Intracept Procedure Works
Intracept is a one-time, minimally invasive procedure. It uses heat, not medication or implants, to stop pain signals at the source.
During the procedure, your provider will:
- Make a small incision in the back
- Use guided imaging to reach the basivertebral nerve inside the vertebra
- Apply radiofrequency energy to heat and deactivate the nerve
- Close the incision, with no hardware left behind
The full procedure usually takes 60 to 90 minutes. It’s done on an outpatient basis, so most patients go home the same day.
What Makes Intracept Different
Unlike ongoing treatments such as repeat injections, Intracept is designed to be done once. As a result, many patients see it as a middle step between conservative care and open spine surgery. Because the treated nerve doesn’t grow back, the relief tends to last. In fact, research shows most patients still experience meaningful improvement five years after treatment.
What to Expect During Recovery
Recovery from Intracept is typically shorter than many people expect. Most patients rest for about 48 hours after the procedure. After that, light activity can usually resume within a few days.
Pain relief doesn’t always happen overnight. Some patients notice improvement within two weeks. For others, relief builds gradually over about three months. Either way, this slow, steady improvement is a normal part of how the procedure works.
Who Is a Candidate for Intracept?
Intracept isn’t the right fit for everyone. Providers generally look for patients who meet a few key criteria:
- Chronic low back pain lasting six months or longer
- Previous treatment with conservative options like physical therapy or medication
- MRI results showing damage to the vertebral endplates, known as Modic changes
Because every patient’s spine and pain history are different, a full evaluation is the only way to know for sure. If you think you might be a candidate, that conversation is worth having with your provider.
Not sure if Intracept is right for you? Our pain specialists can review your history and imaging to help you find the best path forward. Talk to a CMC pain specialist today.
Convenient Locations in Myrtle Beach and Conway
Patients in the Grand Strand now have two places to turn for this treatment. At CMC Orthopaedics in Conway and Socastee, Dr. Simone Maybin brings fellowship training in Interventional Spine from Johns Hopkins Hospital to her non-surgical approach to pain. At CMC Pain Management in Myrtle Beach, Dr. Farayi Mbuvah draws on his background in internal medicine and pain medicine to offer a broad range of advanced, non-opioid treatments.
Whichever provider you see, the goal is the same: getting you back to the life chronic pain has interrupted.
One Procedure, One Time: A New Option When Back Pain Won’t Quit
Chronic back pain doesn’t have to be something you just live with. If conservative treatments haven’t given you lasting relief, it may be worth asking whether vertebrogenic pain, and a treatment like Intracept, could be part of the answer. A conversation with one of CMC’s pain specialists is the best next step toward finding out.
Key Takeaways
- Vertebrogenic pain comes from inside the vertebra, not the disc or muscle, which is why it often doesn’t respond to typical back pain treatments.
- The Intracept Procedure uses heat to deactivate the basivertebral nerve, stopping pain signals at the source.
- It’s a one-time, minimally invasive, outpatient procedure that typically takes 60 to 90 minutes.
- Most patients notice relief within two weeks to three months, with results that can last for years.
- Candidates typically have six or more months of chronic low back pain and specific MRI findings called Modic changes.
- Both CMC Orthopaedics (Dr. Maybin) and CMC Pain Management (Dr. Mbuvah) now offer this treatment.
