Chronic pain affects every area of your life, including work, relationships, and family. Facet injections can be a highly effective but lesser-known treatment for chronic pain from spine-related disorders. This minimally invasive technique offers targeted relief from pain, allowing individuals to regain mobility and improve the quality of their lives. If you have chronic pain and are interested in finding a treatment, click here to find out more.
What Are Facet Joints And Their Role In Pain?
Facets are small joints that stabilize the spine. They guide and restrict movement while maintaining stability. Inflammation or degeneration of these joints may occur due to age, injury, or arthritis. This can cause chronic back and neck pain. Facet dysfunction can manifest as localized stiffness, pain, and discomfort.
Facet joints often cause chronic lower back, midback, and neck pain. It is common among those with degenerative disorders or spine trauma.
What Are Facet Joint Injections?
Facet joint shots are an interventional method of treating pain from the joints. The procedure involves injecting corticosteroid medicine and a local anesthetic directly into affected joints or the surrounding area. The anesthetic gives immediate pain relief. Meanwhile, steroids help reduce inflammation and offer long-term benefits.
It is important to have fluoroscopy (a form of X-ray) guide the procedure to achieve precision and accuracy.
Benefits of Facet Joint Injections
Facet injections have many advantages over traditional methods of pain management.
- A Minimally Invasive Version of:
The procedure is performed without incisions. This reduces the risks of surgery and the recovery time.
- Targeted Pain relief:
Facet-joint injections, as opposed to systemic drugs that affect the entire organism, deliver medication directly into the area of pain.
- Quick, Convenient, and Easy to Use:
The procedure takes 15-30 mins, and patients can often return home the next day.
- Improved Mobilities:
Facet injections help reduce inflammation and pain, allowing patients to perform physical therapy and other rehabilitation exercises more effectively.
- Reduced Dependency upon Medications :
Facet joint injections can be used by those who are concerned about long-term painkiller use.
Who Can Benefit from Facet Joint Injections?
Facet Joint Injections are often recommended for chronic pain in the neck, upper spine, or lower back.
- Facial joint arthritis
- Degenerative changes to the spine
- Trauma or injury of the spine
- Inflammation from repeated motion or overuse
- Spondylosis, or wear and tear to the spinal discs (and joints),
Facet joint injections may be the right treatment for your condition, but you must undergo a thorough evaluation by a doctor before you undergo this procedure.
What To Expect During The Procedure
The procedure for an injection of the facet joints is simple and can be done in an outpatient setting.
- Preparation:
Depending on the location of the injection, the patient may lie on his or her stomach, back, or side. A local numbing agent cleans and numbs the region around the injection site.
- Guided injection:
Under fluoroscopic supervision, the physician carefully inserts a needle into the nerves or facet joint. Once the needle is in the correct position, the medication injection can begin.
- Post-Procedure Care:
The patient will be discharged after a short time. Some people experience temporary swelling at the injection sites, but it usually goes away in a day or so.
How Long Does Relief Last?
The duration of pain relief differs from patient to patient. Some patients experience pain relief over several weeks, while others benefit for months. If the pain relief is effective, you can repeat it periodically as part of an integrated pain management program.
Conclusion
Facet joint injections are a powerful treatment for chronic pain. They offer diagnostic clarity and therapeutic relief. Because they target the source of pain directly, these injections allow patients to take back their lives and be free from chronic discomfort.
If chronic back pain is making it difficult for you to do your normal activities, click here to learn more about your options. Connect with an experienced pain management specialist. The right treatment plan can help you reduce pain and improve mobility while improving your quality of life.
