Do you experience pain whenever you bend or twist your lower back? If yes, this can be a symptom of facet joint arthritis, a common arthritic condition that occurs when facet joints wear off and spinal nerves between vertebrae and facet joints get compressed. It can cause mild to severe pain in certain postures and activities. However, with an early observation and diagnosis of its symptoms and seeking medical help, it is manageable. Learn the signs and symptoms of facet joint arthritis and the 8 best facet joint arthritis pain treatment options in this article. Visit the best Pain Management Clinic in Brooklyn at Doral Health & Wellness or log on to www.doralhw.org. to schedule an appointment with us.
Signs and symptoms of facet joint arthritis
Facet joint arthritis symptoms appear when your joints swell and limit your spine mobility. The pain is the main symptom, especially affecting the lower back and getting worse with certain spinal movements like twisting, bending backward, and while standing. This pain doesn’t radiate down the legs or buttocks unless spinal stenosis is involved. This pain can sometimes last for a month or more. You can experience tenderness in some regions of the spine. As the cartilage of the joints wears out over time, the condition becomes worse. You may experience pain along with stiffness, soreness, muscle cramps, abnormal posture, and limited range of motion.
8 Facet Joint Arthritis Pain Treatments
Here are the most commonly available 8 facet joint arthritis treatment options:
- Medications:
You can take over-the-counter medications such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, aspirin, and naproxen to relieve pain and reduce inflammation. However, doctors recommended that you first consult with them before taking these medications for your condition. You can also consider topical creams or patches. If these medications do not help, the doctor may prescribe strong medications and muscle relaxants to manage your symptoms.
- Heat and cold therapy:
Both therapies are good for easing pain caused by facet joint syndrome. You can use heat to boost circulation, relax muscles, and dilate blood vessels, whereas cold can constrict blood vessels, which lowers swelling and numbs the area. When you use heat, it allows more oxygen and blood to reach the painful tissues. You can use it throughout the day or in the morning each day to reduce stiffness and pain. Whereas, using cold therapy works best during acute pain or having a flare-up. It can restrict blood vessels to lower blood flow and numb the pain. Make sure you don’t use a cold pack or heating pad directly on the affected area or use both for no more than 20 minutes at a time. Both methods can help with pain sensations; you can decide which therapy is best based on your requirements. You can use them separately or together in a combination that works best for you.
- Physical therapy:
This is an effective treatment option that involves specific exercises that can help to regain strength and mobility in the spine. It also helps in speeding up the healing process. It may include a combination of manual therapy, low-impact aerobic exercise, strengthening, and stretching. These exercises are designed by a physical therapist specifically based on your condition, and they also instruct how to perform them safely. Over time, it will improve and stabilize your lower back to foster a healing environment for the tissues. People experience long-term pain relief with physical therapy.
- Radiofrequency ablation:
This procedure uses thermal energy to interrupt the pain signals from the affected nerve facet joint to the brain, which reduces pain. This procedure is amazingly effective for many people and provides long-lasting chronic pain relief (from a few months to a few years).
- Medial Branch Injections:
This injection involves anesthetic medication that is delivered around the medial branch nerves to block pain signals from the facet joints to the brain. It is a diagnostic procedure also used to identify the specific nerves that are causing you pain. When a person receives an injection around the nerve branch, it lowers pain in the following ways:
- Decrease the nerve fibers’ ability to receive blood from each nerve.
- Suppress pain signals from the nerve.
- Block C fibers to lower pain transmission to the brain.
For accuracy and precision, doctors use ultrasound or fluoroscopy to insert the needle in the right area. Studies show that it’s effective for short-term pain relief and helps plan further treatment.
- Lumbar spinal fusion:
If conservative treatments fail to improve your symptoms, surgical options are considered. Lumbar spinal fusion is a common minimal surgical procedure that is used to treat facet joint arthritis to reduce pain, nerve damage, and spinal pressure. During the procedure, a surgeon makes an incision and fuses the vertebrae of your lower back together to stop the motion between them and avoid friction. This will alleviate your symptoms of facet joint syndrome; however, it will not eliminate your condition. So, it is important that you follow the doctor’s recommendations for physical therapy and healthy lifestyle for better outcomes after the surgery.
- Facetectomy:
This surgery is used when patients have bone spurs in their facet joints. In this surgery, the surgeon removes excess bone by trimming the affected part of the facet joint that impinges on the spinal nerves or spinal cord. This can help provide significant pain relief, especially in severe cases.
- Discectomy:
This procedure is used to restore strength and lower pain. During this procedure, the surgeon will remove any damaged part of the disc that may compress the nerves around a facet joint. This surgery is recommended when a damaged disc is causing pain. It will alleviate your symptoms such as numbness, pain, and restore some strength.
Facet joint arthritis is a very painful condition and makes it difficult for you to perform certain activities or even move/stretch your back freely, affecting your quality of life. Noticing the symptoms of facet joint arthritis early and seeking medical help allows you to manage the condition and live a better life.
Need help with facet joint arthritis? If you’re ready to take the next step in managing your pain, we recommend consulting with us to explore the right treatments or therapies for you. Always listen to your body and adjust your daily routine to prioritize your well-being. Visit Doral Health & Wellness Pain Relief Department in Brooklyn, to get professional help and guidance on how to manage your problem. Call us on + 1-718-367-2555 to get a consultation. If you need help learning coping methods, register your information and make direct contact with our doctors at https://yuz88hfiyh7.typeform.com/Doralintake. Log on to www.doralhw.org. Or visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212.
