THE TREATMENT LEADS TO:
- Swift pain relief
- Improved quality of life
- Reduced use of medication (morphine, anti-epileptic medicine, psychotropic drugs)
- Fewer sick days
- A quicker return to work
Cryoneurolysis or Cryoanalgesia is a treatment that provides long-term pain relief. This is done by applying low temperature (-20º to -88ºC) to the nerve.
Cryoneurolysis is applied to the nerve for 2-3 minutes repeatedly.
The analgesic effect of adding cold is documented historically and has been in use for many decades. In historical terms, people have been treating pain with cold since the days of Hippocrates (460-377 BC), and the earliest written documents show that they used cold compresses.
Cryoneurolysis uses the effect of cold against the particular nerve that is causing the pain.
Usually this is a sensory nerve.
After being exposed to extreme cold, the ability of the nerve to transmit signals stops (-20° to -88° C) for a few minutes.
After a few days, the nerve begins to grow again, approximately 1-3 millimetres per day.
In some cases, the pain does not return, even after the nerve is restored.
Once the nerve has grown back together, the pain may recur and Cryoneurolysis must be performed again. In other instances, the pain will have disappeared for the rest of the patient’s life.
After an in-depth telephone/email consultation, we can assess whether it is possible to treat your disorder — and your pain — with the use of Cryoneurolysis.
It is important for you to describe your suffering and pain situation to us, and how it is affecting you and your life.
If you are taking any medication, whatever you are being treated for, it is important to tell us which medicine you are receiving and what for (including all pain medication).
We will then immediately make an appointment for a preliminary examination.
At the preliminary examination we will use ultrasound to localise the nerve and perform a so-called ‘diagnostic block’ with a local anaesthetic.
In other words, we briefly anaesthetise the nerves involved in order to evaluate the effect of the treatment. The local anaesthetic works for just a few hours.
We can then plan the further course of treatment.
In the context of the actual Cryoneurolysis treatment, we will administer a local anaesthetic to ensure the treatment is pain free.
Before treatment, all patients receive detailed guidance about Cryoneurolysis treatment and possible complications and side effects.
Like any invasive treatment, Cryoneurolysis treatment can result in complications and side effects, but no serious side effects or lasting nerve damage after treatment have been reported worldwide.
Complications
Cryoneurolysis is a very minor and virtually painless invasive treatment, but when a needle is inserted through the skin, minor complications can occur in the form of:
Side effects:
The only known side effect of Cryoneurolysis treatment is temporary numbness in the area that has been treated. This numbness cannot be treated, but disappears spontaneously in a few weeks or in rare cases in the course of a few months.