Facet Joint Disease
Common cause of axial back or neck pain
What is a facet or zygopophysial joint?
Facet joint is a joint that connects two adjacent vertebral bodies. A facet joint is present on both right & left side between two adjacent vertebral bodies in the spine. These joints allow the spine to bend and twist, and they keep the back from slipping too far forward or twisting without limits.
What is the nerve supply of facet joint?
A facet joint gets its sensation from nerves called Medial Branch Nerves. Each joint is supplied by the medial branch at the same level and the level above. Breakdown or degeneration of these joints can lead to axial neck pain, back pain, arm pain or leg pain when the joint is injured or irritated leading to a diagnosis of facet joint disease.
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What causes facet joint disease?
Facet joint disease is commonly caused by years of repetitive strain, intervertebral disc degeneration and minor trauma. Facet joint disease can also be caused by whiplash injury caused by motor vehicle accidents and spine injury. Facet syndrome can progress to spinal osteoarthritis, which is known as spondylosis.
How will I know that I suffer from facet joint disease?
Facet Joint disease can cause the following symptoms:
Tenderness in back or neck
Patients with facet joint disease of neck region, may experience pain in the back of the head, the shoulders and between the shoulder blades.
Patients with facet joint disease of the lower back may experience pain in the flank, hip, thigh or the calf
But the gold-standard for diagnosing facet joint disease is Medial Branch Block
What is Medial Branch Block?
During medial branch block we temporarily numb the nerves supplying the facet joints with a numbing medicine. This helps us diagnose facet joint disease. The pain-relief from this block usually last for 6-12 hours.
What is Radiofrequency Ablation?
After performing two successful medial branch blocks, we proceed with Radiofrequency Ablation, a more long-lasting treatment. By generating heat around the nerve, the ability of the nerve to transmit pain signals to the brain is destroyed.