Millions of Americans suffer from chronic back pain, but for Gene Forrest, the pain became insufferable.
“The pain can be so bad it wakes you up from a dead sleep with tears in your eyes,” Forrest said.
Forrest said the pain intensified throughout the years with his job as a mechanic and painter taking an additional toll on his body. He said he has experienced everything from a bulging disk and pinched nerves to a slipped vertebrae and sciatic pain down both legs. The new Intracept procedure was his last resort.
Dr. John Smirniotopoulos at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, the first physician in D.C. to perform the procedure, said the Intracept procedure precisely targets damaged or inflamed nerves in the lower back that contribute to chronic pain.
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“Patients walk away with Band-Aids. No stitches, no sutures," he said.
The procedure uses radiofrequency heat to destroy the damaged nerves.
Forrest wore leg braces to learn how to walk, and wore a back brace that stretched from his waist to his skull in his freshman year of high school after learning he had a curvature in his spine.
“I've done injections. I've done physical therapy. I've had surgeries. I've done massages, acupuncture, medication – and none of it worked,” he said.
Smirniotopoulos said he has seen patients get to the point where they can' no't function because of the pain and seeing Forrest be able to talk to him while at his job was “the best thing to see.”
While the procedure is not a cure, Forrest said he is pain-free about 70-80% of the time and is able to enjoy the things he loves.
“This procedure saved my career and saved my way of life,” Forrest said. “It gave me back a lot of things that I lost.”
The Intracept procedure lasts about an hour. Patients must meet certain criteria and undergo MRI screening in order to qualify and determine if they would be a good candidate.
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