FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Greg Stafford has a love for the game of golf.<\/p>\n
“I played golf all the time,” he said.<\/p>\n
For years, a deep chronic lower back pain put a wedge between him and his favorite pastime. The pain became so unbearable that two years ago, Stafford stopped playing.<\/p>\n
“My family would laugh at me because when I would be sitting in the chair at home and when I went to get up, I would make the old man noises,” he said. “It was so painful to get up.”<\/p>\n
The pain even made doing small household tasks hard.<\/p>\n
Stafford says he tried different forms of treatment and medications, but none could take away the ache he felt.<\/p>\n
That’s when he met with Dr. Amitabh Goswami with California Pain Consultants in northeast Fresno about the intracept procedure.<\/p>\n
“He gave me information on it,” Stafford said. “I went home, did some research on it and looked into it. Made another appointment and said I want this done.”<\/p>\n
The intracept procedure is a minimally invasive surgery that treats chronic lower back pain.<\/p>\n
“We take a probe, we go into the bone through the pedicle and put a tiny probe on the vertebral body,” Dr. Goswami said. “Once that probe is set into place under floroscopic guidance, we heat up that nerve that causes it to melt and result in a pain-free time period after.”<\/p>\n
Just this month, Dr. Goswami did his 100th intracept procedure. He explains they use this treatment for older patients, and has seen how it improves the quality of life.<\/p>\n
“With this treatment, we’ve seen sustained long-term relief,” he said. “Our patients can expect anywhere from 60% – 100% pain relief.”<\/p>\n
For Stafford, the treatment has been a huge game-changer.<\/p>\n
He no longer thinks about the pain that once bothered him.<\/p>\n
Instead, he’s back on the green twice a week, aiming for a “par”-fect game.<\/p>\n
For news updates, follow Ana Torrea on Facebook<\/a>, X<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>. Copyright \u00a9 2025 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n
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