Over 90% of the US is affected with back pain at some point in life. Most of the time, over 90%, it is self limiting over six to twelve weeks regardless of treatment. What about the other 10%?
If the back pain is coming from facet arthritis, which is also referred to as facet syndrome, the back pain then turns chronic and is significantly disabling. It may get better or stick around like a pebble in a shoe. No treatment exists for arthritis yet which is able to reverse it. The hope is to simply maintain it with pain relieving options such as facet injections.
Facet joints contribute to the movement of the spine and connect vertebrae. The lumbar spine contains five vertebrae and is located at the bottom of the back.
Each is roughly the size of a thumbnail. Lumbar facet joints are named for the spinal vertebrae they connect and the side they are found on the spine. The right L4-5 joint, for example, joins the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae on the right side.
In most patients, pain emanating from the facet joints causes back pain and does not go into the legs. This pain may be coming from cartilage injury inside the joint or from a ligament injury surrounding the joints. This could be from degenerative arthritis or from a post traumatic injury. Pain coming from an injured joint can be coming from simple muscle tension or from more severe disabling pain.
Common tests like x-rays or MRI's may not show if a joint is the cause of your pain.
Facet arthritis has a treatment option of injections, which are also called facet blocks. Pain physicians perform these injections and they are done as an outpatient, potentially giving weeks to months of relief.
Facet injections are done with appropriate numbing medication. The blocks can be both therapeutic and diagnostic for neck or back pain. A facet joint injection can denote whether the joints are the source of pain and can help alleviate the pain and inflammation.
An immediate x-ray called fluoroscopy allows for accurate needle placement in the facet joint and then dye is often placed to make sure it's in the correct joint.
As soon as the needle is properly placed, the pain physician injects numbing medication along with the steroid medication. The numbing medicine wears off in about a day, but the steroid medication kicks in within 1-3 days. Pain relief may last for weeks to months, or not at all. If it works, it suggests that the facet joint was in fact the cause of the pain.
The pain reduction happens in three to ten days as the steroid substance decreases inflammation. Up to 3 facet injections per year can be given.
If the back pain is coming from facet arthritis, which is also referred to as facet syndrome, the back pain then turns chronic and is significantly disabling. It may get better or stick around like a pebble in a shoe. No treatment exists for arthritis yet which is able to reverse it. The hope is to simply maintain it with pain relieving options such as facet injections.
Facet joints contribute to the movement of the spine and connect vertebrae. The lumbar spine contains five vertebrae and is located at the bottom of the back.
Each is roughly the size of a thumbnail. Lumbar facet joints are named for the spinal vertebrae they connect and the side they are found on the spine. The right L4-5 joint, for example, joins the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae on the right side.
In most patients, pain emanating from the facet joints causes back pain and does not go into the legs. This pain may be coming from cartilage injury inside the joint or from a ligament injury surrounding the joints. This could be from degenerative arthritis or from a post traumatic injury. Pain coming from an injured joint can be coming from simple muscle tension or from more severe disabling pain.
Common tests like x-rays or MRI's may not show if a joint is the cause of your pain.
Facet arthritis has a treatment option of injections, which are also called facet blocks. Pain physicians perform these injections and they are done as an outpatient, potentially giving weeks to months of relief.
Facet injections are done with appropriate numbing medication. The blocks can be both therapeutic and diagnostic for neck or back pain. A facet joint injection can denote whether the joints are the source of pain and can help alleviate the pain and inflammation.
An immediate x-ray called fluoroscopy allows for accurate needle placement in the facet joint and then dye is often placed to make sure it's in the correct joint.
As soon as the needle is properly placed, the pain physician injects numbing medication along with the steroid medication. The numbing medicine wears off in about a day, but the steroid medication kicks in within 1-3 days. Pain relief may last for weeks to months, or not at all. If it works, it suggests that the facet joint was in fact the cause of the pain.
The pain reduction happens in three to ten days as the steroid substance decreases inflammation. Up to 3 facet injections per year can be given.
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