Madelia Community Hospital & Clinic offering new nerve pain treatment

(Madelia, MN) – A new treatment to help patients suffering from nerve pain is being offered by the Madelia Community Hospital & Clinic.

Through donations from community members, the MCHC Foundation was able to provide $35,000 in funding for a COOLIEF Radiofrequency Pain Management System.

Patients previously had to travel to the Twin Cities, Rochester, or Sioux Falls to receive the treatment.

Cooled RF is the first thermal radiofrequency system using water-cooled technology.

Patients would first receive an injection of local anesthesia.  A thin needle is then used to deliver radiofrequency energy through water-cooled electrodes.  Those electrodes create large-volume, spherically-shaped lesions that block the transmission of pain signal from the affected nerve to the brain.

The Cooled RF treatment is used to help patients with chronic lower back and neck pain, and pain related to joint degeneration caused by arthritis.

Benefits of Cooled RF include avoiding scarring that is associated with traditional open surgeries, and the ability to treat extremely sick or older patients.  Hospital stays are also shorter, and recovery is faster, according to MCHC.

The procedure can provide up to 24 months of pain relief, and help reduce opioid use.