Facet Joint Injections

Facet Joint Injections in Lancaster, CA and Valencia, CA

The back plays a major role in your body’s ability to perform physical functions. Your spine is made up of 33 vertebrae and 24 of the 33 vertebrae provide flexibility for movement (are not fixed in place). The vertebra that makes up the spine not only provides stability by collectively supporting the torso and the head, it also protects the spinal cord and the vital nerves that branch off the spinal column while allowing for the range of motion in your neck and back.

A joint is made up of two or more bones in your body and allows for movement. Your spine is made up of multiple joints, or spinal motion segments. This joint segment includes a thin intervertebral disc that acts as a spacer which is sandwiched between two vertebrae. Facets are external boney processes on each vertebra and are found on the back of the spine. The connection between each spinal motion segment are formed by a pair of facet joints. When you flex, rotate, turn, or twist your neck or back it is the spinal segment that provides the resultant range of motion and the facet joints help to stabilize the movement.

As with any joint in the body damage or degeneration of the joint can occur at the facet joints and can lead to Facet Joint Arthropathy or Facet Joint Syndrome. Some studies found that up to 45% of back pain and 55% of neck pain can be attributed to facet joint etiology. In this syndrome pain may occur from joint damage, and stiffness can result from joint inflammation. Pain is often brought on by bending, leaning backward, twisting the body, or lifting objects. Persons with Facet Joint Arthropathy may also experience stiffness or inability to move part of the neck or back. Facet Joint Syndrome can be caused by acute trauma, repetitive injury, or joint degeneration from aging. Amputation is a major life change that impacts not only the patient’s self-image but the patient’s ability to function. Depending upon the level and type of amputation, mobility can be greatly affected. Once the patient heals from surgery, more in-depth rehabilitation is essential to helping the patient reach the highest levels of function and independence for the home and to readjust back into the community.

About Facet Joint Injectios

Facet Joint Injections are an interventional treatment option that can help alleviate neck or back pain as well as help diagnose the source of neck or back pain. Facet joint injections are essentially “little joint injections” that are similar to injections placed into larger joints, such as the knee or hip, but on a much smaller scale.

Facet Joint Injections can be performed under conscious or twilight sedation which is a technique that provides short-term mild sedation using a combination of intravenous medications. The physician will use X-ray guidance with Fluoroscopy to isolate the specific facet joint to be treated. A mixture of an anesthetic combined with an anti-inflammatory medication (corticosteroid) is injected directly into the facet joint helping to break the cycle of inflammation and provide very localized relief. Facet Joint Injections are often performed in an outpatient center and although it may take only a few minutes to perform the actual injections, the entire procedure may take 15-30 minutes total.