Facet Disease Facts
Facet Disease Surgery
Facet disease surgery is usually a last resort treatment for most patients suffering from the condition, which is defined as the deterioration of the cartilaginous material that lines the facet joints of the spine. Eventually, the cartilage can wear away and lead to symptoms of pain, inflammation, stiffness, and a reduced range of motion. If surgical intervention becomes necessary, a patient has usually already attempted several weeks or months of conservative, nonsurgical treatments, such as taking anti-inflammatory drugs or pain medication, performing physical therapy exercises, and alternating hot and cold therapies. Before consenting to any surgery, however, it’s vital that patients completely understand all of the benefits and risks associated with each type of facet disease surgery.
Facet Disease Procedure Types
If you’re considering a facet disease procedure to treat your symptoms, it’s important to thoroughly understand the specifics of each procedure available to you. Facet disease (or spinal osteoarthritis) affects the cartilage coating of the jointed areas of the spine; eventually, cartilage deterioration can reveal raw bones that grind against one another. As a result, pain, inflammation, stiffness, tenderness, and bone spur formation can occur. In most cases, the condition can be effectively treated with nonsurgical methods, such as anti-inflammatory drugs, pain medications, physical therapy, and others. While any form of invasive treatment is best left as a last resort, the following minimally invasive procedures can offer you a safer treatment option and faster recovery than highly invasive open spine surgeries like spinal fusion.
Facet Disease Treatment
Facet disease treatment will be different from patient to patient, particularly because individuals affected with the condition will experience symptoms differently. Once a patient has been correctly diagnosed with facet disease – a degenerative spine condition that affects the cartilage in the jointed areas of the spine – a doctor can formulate a treatment plan that best meets the patient’s needs. In most cases, treatments begin conservatively.
Ascertaining a Facet Disease Diagnosis
Obtaining an official facet disease diagnosis from your family doctor or a spine specialist is an important first step in understanding and treating your condition. Facet disease, also known as spinal osteoarthritis, is a degenerative condition that is marked by cartilage deterioration in the jointed areas of the spine. The diagnostic process usually involves a medical history interview, a physical exam, a discussion about the symptoms experienced, and diagnostic imaging or other tests
Facet Disease Symptoms
It is sometimes difficult to specifically identify facet disease symptoms as such, because they can often be confused with other spinal conditions or health problems. Facet disease - also known as facet joint syndrome or spinal osteoarthritis - is a condition that affects the jointed areas of the neck and back. Many forms of arthritis, including facet disease, are considered degenerative, which means that changes happening to the affected joints can get worse over time.
Facet Disease Causes & Treatments
What causes facet disease is sometimes difficult to determine. A doctor tasked with diagnosing facet disease - an arthritic condition marked by the deterioration of the facet joints of the spine - may have to consider many different factors, such as the patient’s medical history, activity level, age, and overall health, to help determine why the patient is experiencing symptoms.
Understanding Facet Disease
Facet disease, also known as spinal osteoarthritis or facet joint syndrome, is a common spinal condition that affects the jointed areas of the spine. Facet joints serve as connection points between adjacent vertebrae, and are one of the components that allow you to enjoy a wide range of motion in your neck and back. Lined with smooth cartilage and lubricated with synovial fluid, these joints are designed to glide against each other without friction. Over time, however, synovial fluid dissipates and joint cartilage begins to show signs of wear and tear, and may eventually deteriorate enough to expose adjacent vertebral bones and cause them to rub against each other. Once the friction of bone grinding on bone increases, the symptoms of facet disease may become apparent and bone spurs can form. These bony growths, also known as osteophytes, often form in arthritic facet joints as the body makes an effort to stabilize dysfunctional joint movement.
Facet Pain Treatment at Laser Spine Institute
Living with facet pain can truly change your life. It can make you think twice about participating in your weekly pick-up basketball game or even taking a long walk. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Laser Spine Institute (LSI) offers an innovative treatment for facet pain sufferers called facet thermal ablation.
Lumbar Facet Syndrome & Related Back Conditions Can Be Treated at Laser Spine Institute
Lumbar facet syndrome can cause stiffness, numbness, weakness and more in the lower back. And, because the lumbar region is a common area for injuries and wear and tear related conditions, it’s very possible that facet disease is accompanied by other back problems like a herniated disc or sciatica. Sometimes facet syndrome can even cause the other problems. For instance, facet disease causes a vertebra to shift out of place, so bone spurs may form as the body tries to increase stability and strength in that portion of the spine. If those bone spurs press on nerves or other tissue, they could cause pain. Fortunately, lumbar facet syndrome and other back ailments can often be treated with simple, non-invasive methods such as special stretches and exercises, heat and cold therapy, chiropractic care, and anti-inflammatory medications. If these are unsuccessful and surgery enters the discussion, you should consider treatment at Laser Spine Institute (LSI).
Facet Disease Symptoms May Be Relieved By a Procedure at Laser Spine Institute
Facet disease—irritation of the facet joints in the spinal column—can result in a number of uncomfortable symptoms similar to arthritis. And, because those symptoms are affecting the spinal column, which is involved in much of the body’s movement, they can be incredibly painful.
Facet Disease Surgery at LSI is Effective and Safe
If you’re planning on having facet disease surgery, you should consider the treatment provided by Laser Spine Institute. We offer facet thermal ablation, which cleans diseased tissue from the affected joint and deadens nerves that communicate pain impulses to the brain. It’s different from traditional facet syndrome surgery offered by many doctors. That surgery, called a spinal fusion, joins the weakened or fractured facet joint to an adjacent joint for added stability and support. That joining immobilizes those two joints which can cause stress—and new back pain—in a different part of the spine. Additionally, the body can reject the fusion altogether, causing further problems. Spinal fusion also requires open-back surgery, which can be painful and comes with risks like infection.
Spondylolisthesis Can Cause Debilitating Back Pain
Spondylolisthesis is just one of dozens of back problems that have countless patients in the doctor’s office every year, looking for relief. A common cause of facet disease, it occurs when a vertebra slips out of place, over the one below it. That happens most often when a fracture decreases the vertebra’s stability or when a disc between vertebra degenerates, failing to hold the vertebra in place and cushion it. Whatever the cause, spondylolisthesis creates extra pressure on nerves, and pain can result.
Diagnostic Facet Injections Help Determine the True Cause of Back Pain
There are dozens of potential causes for back pain, especially in the lumbar region where vertebrae, discs, and joints suffer a lot of wear and tear. So when you visit your doctor complaining of back pain, he or she may use a number of techniques to determine the cause of your problem. One of these is diagnostic facet injections. These injections, which are generally a combination of corticosteroid and a local anesthetic, reduce inflammation and pain temporarily to help doctors determine exactly what is causing your pain by a process of elimination. For example, if your doctor administers an injection on the lower left facet joint on your L5 vertebra and your pain subsides, he or she then knows that this is where the problem lies. If the pain remains, then it’s likely that the source of the issue is elsewhere, and the doctor can then address these other possibilities. Diagnostic facet injections can also be used as a temporary pain reliever, and in some patients they’ll provide relief for more than a year.
Facet Disease Causes
Facet disease causes vary from person to person, but the end result is the same: irritation to nerves and back pain. In most cases, that pain is caused by a breakdown or thinning of the cartilage on the facet joint. This can occur naturally with age, but it’s also exacerbated by overuse or a traumatic incident. For others, facet disease occurs because of spondylolithesis. That’s when one vertebra slips out of place and moves forward into another vertebra, pressing on nerves in the process. Fortunately, there are treatment options for both of these facet disease causes.
Degenerative Facet Joints Can Be Treated With Numerous Methods Including Laser Surgery
Degenerative facet joints cause a condition sometimes called facet disease, facet syndrome, or facet arthritis. Marked by pain in the lower back or neck that’s made worse by twisting, this condition can limit mobility and often worsens with time. The pain occurs because the cartilage has deteriorated on the facet joints and exposed bone is rubbing against exposed bone. This creates irritation and swollen tissue which presses on nerves.
Facet Joint Syndrome May Accompany Other Lower Back Problems
Facet joint syndrome, the deterioration of cartilage that cushions the facet joints, is a common cause of lower back pain. Unfortunately for many people, treating this condition won’t leave them free of discomfort. As we age, the lower back begins to break down due to heavy wear and tear, so its not uncommon for many problems to develop there.
Facet Arthritis Can Sometimes be Treated with Thermal Ablation at LSI
Facet arthritis, also known as facet disease or facet joint disease, can severely limit the mobility of sufferers because it causes inflammation in the very joints meant to allow twisting and bending. These joints are located in pairs that flank each vertebra, and they are equipped with cartilage that allows the individual sections of the spine to move without friction. But with facet arthritis, that cartilage has been worn away and the bony ends of the facet joints rub against each other and cause irritation. In many cases the joint also swells, putting pressure on surrounding tissue, which increases pain.
Facet Disease Treatment Options: Reasons Why Laser Spine Surgery Is the Better Choice
Having arthritis in one knee or hip is bad enough, but arthritis in the facet joints - the many joints running down the spinal column - can mean agony that extends from the shoulders to the thighs. Facet disease is basically defined as arthritis or degeneration in one or more facet joints, causing pain in the joints themselves as well as pain that radiates to the hips, thighs, shoulders, and arms. This pain, in addition to overall stiffness, can limit your ability to work, play golf, garden, walk through a store, and even tie your shoes.
Facet Disease Treatment: Our 5-Day Process to Rediscovering Life without Back Pain
If you have facet disease, you are familiar with the deep, dull ache that radiates from your back to your legs, hips, shoulders, and arms. You also may experience stiffness throughout your back and neck, especially when you try to get out of a chair or turn your body. Facet disease also can lead to headaches and other symptoms that make it difficult to do anything except stay in bed. Being in this much pain can make anyone’s life miserable, so it goes without saying that men and women with facet disease are searching for a treatment that will provide them with the fastest relief possible.
Facet Disease Surgery: Top Reasons Why You Should Choose LSI for Minimally Invasive Treatment
Your facet disease may go by many terms such as facet arthritis, facet joint syndrome, degenerative facet joints, and facet hypertrophy. All of these terms basically mean that one or more of your facet joints is being affected by arthritis or another form of degeneration. Since your facet joints are what give your back the ability to move, bend, and stretch, facet disease can greatly impede your range of motion. This disease also can cause pain that radiates from the affected facet joint to other areas of your body such as your hips, legs, shoulders, and arms.
Many Facet Disease Patients Are Perfect Candidates for LSI’s Minimally Invasive Procedures
Most of us take the flexibility of our spinal column for granted. We can all thank our facet joints for making our spinal column as flexible as it is. Facet joints are links between the vertebrae (or bones) of our spine. With a facet joint directly above and below each vertebra, our spinal column is built to bend and stretch as we do.
When facet disease affects these vital joints, you will experience pain in the joint and in related parts of the body. What this means is, if you have facet disease in the lower back, pain can radiate to the hips and thighs. Likewise, if facet disease is in the neck, pain can travel to the shoulders and arms.
Thoracic Facet Injection
Depending on the number of affected areas, one injection can last several months and in some instances it can bring long-term pain relief. If there are injuries to multiple areas, one injection may only provide relief to some of the symptoms.
Cervical Facet Syndrome
When suffering from cervical facet syndrome, the facet joints become inflamed and may bring with it soreness and or stiffness. Cervical facet joint pain can be felt in the areas of the base of the skull, upper back and shoulders, mid-back or neck.
What is Facet Syndrome
The vertebrae of the bony spine are designed to stack together and provide a movable support structure for the body as well as protection for the spinal cord from injury. The spinal cord is the nervous tissue extending from the brain and down the spinal column.
Facet Thermal Ablation
With cartilage that lines the joint allowing bones to glide smoothly over each other and a capsule surrounding the joint, a facet joint is pretty much the same as any other joint in your body.
Facet Joint Aspiration
Although it isn’t clear exactly what the cause of a synovial cysts is, it is generally accepted that they are related to the development of facet joint degeneration. This theory is thought to be most accurate because of the proximity of the cyst to the degenerated joint. Patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis have also been observed with synovial cysts.
Facet Hypertrophy
When considering the onset of spinal conditions it is important to understand the relationship that your spine has with the rest of your body. One of the duties of your spine is to give your body support and carry the majority of its weight. The vertebrae in the spine bear the majority of this weight, which is then spread to bones in the back portion of each vertebra called the facet joints.
Facet Disease Treatment
Facet disease, which can also be referred to as facet arthritis, is rarely the only cause of a patient’s lower back pain. People suffering from facet disease will most often have other conditions such as DDD (degenerative disc disease), spinal stenosis and arthritis in other parts of their spine contributing to the symptoms.
Facet Disease Symptoms
There are many important functions that the lumbar area (often referred to as the low back) provide for the human body. Movement, structural support and the protection of certain body tissues are just a few of these functions.
Facet Disease and Back Pain Prevention Tips
Along with learning and practicing proper body mechanics, improving your physical condition may help to improve your chances at avoiding back pain and conditions such as facet disease.
Facet Arthropathy
Like any other joint in our body, the facet joint can develop into an arthritic source of pain affecting the back. When arthritic pain is felt it is referred to as facet arthropathy which loosely means a disease or abnormality in the facet joint.