Facet Joint Pain

Easy Guide to Know about Facet Joint Pain

Are you suffering from back pain or neck pain that is not going up to your fingers or toes? Does your neck or back pain moves up to shoulder or buttock? Does your pain increase with backward movement and turning around? If your answer is yes for all the questions, you are probably suffering from facet joint pain.

Your quality of life will change for the worse if you are suffering from facet joint pain, which is why it is very important for anyone who suffers from this pain types to take action and make sure that they have some sort of pain management solutions available. A facet joint is the joint between two vertebrae. Facet joints allow your vertebrae to move while keeping your spine properly aligned. Like all joints, they are subject to wear and tear and begin to deteriorate as you age, causing pain.

Causes and Symptoms of Facet Joint Pain

The causes of facet joint pain can be varied, and can include injury that has been sustained or medical
conditions such as arthritis. So, something as simple as a trip or fall could result in facet joint problems.

There are many symptoms of facet joint pain are as follows :

- Increased pain when you lean forwards rather than when you lean back

- Pain or tenderness in the lower back

- Pain that increases with twisting at the waist or bending backward and extending the lower back

- Pain that moves to the buttocks and hips or the back of the thighs usually a deep, dull ache

- Stiffness or difficulty with certain movement, such as standing up straight or getting up out of a chair

- Difficulty rotating the head

- Neck and/or back pain that is intermittent and comes on without warning

- Headaches

- Common symptoms associated with this condition are adjacent muscle spasms which can pull the patient out of alignment, leading to a guarded posture. 

- The usual acute attack of back pain involving facet joints occurs suddenly with no warning. It can appear dramatic and patients are in much discomfort and cannot move very well. 

- A particular point of persistent pain (this is at the location of the inflamed joint)

- Neck pain that travels down to the upper back and shoulders

- Back pain that travels down to the back of the leg and possibly as far as the knee

Diagnosis of Pain in facet Joint

- Usually damage at the facet joint can be seen on plain X-rays, which are taken from front to back, side to side and obliquely across the joint. In some cases a CT scan can be used instead as this will show up more detail of other structures in order to rule them out.

- If nothing is found, an MRI scan may be taken to reveal any problems with associated structures such as discs and ligaments of the spine.

- Another method sometimes used is an injection into the facet joint (sometimes calle da facet joint block). The injection consists of x-ray contrast material, local anaesthetic and cortisone. If this eases the symptoms then this is considered diagnostic of facet joint dysfunction.

Facet Joint Pain Treatment

There are many treatment of facet joint pain such as:

- Anti-inflammatory medications, back supports, and heat treatments can all be used to help ease the inflammation and the pain. You can also get effective relief on a far longer term basis by considering treatments such as facet joint injections, which can provide relief for months at a time for some sufferers.

- Successful long-term treatment involves proper exercises, with instruction by a trained physical therapist or other healthcare provider.

- Good posture (maintaining a normal curvature of the spine such as pulling the car seat quite forward or when standing at a sink, putting one foot up on a ledge, bending that knee a bit), support to the low back when seated or riding in a car (particularly in the acute phase). A very useful posture when standing or sitting is the pelvic tilt - where one pinches together the buttocks and rotates forward the lower pelvis - and holding that position for several seconds, done several times per day.

- Heat (e.g. heat wraps, a hot water bottle, hot showers) or cold (e.g. cold pad applications) may help alleviate painful episodes.

- Changes in daily activities (e.g. shortening or eliminating a long daily commute), and adding frequent rest breaks

- Chiropractic manipulations or osteopathic manipulations may provide pain relief

- For the neck, a restraining collar may bring temporary relief, as may also cervical traction. A suitable supportive neck pillow is often essential and abnormal nighttime flexion positioning of the neck, such as when using a pile of pillows, is to be avoided.

- To determine the most effective treatments to help relieve your facet joint pain then treatment can be a combination of self-medication and medical treatment. because if not you will suffer a greatly reduced quality of life due to discomfort and debilitating nature of the condition.