Facet Disease Facts

Find out if you're a candidate for a minimally invasive alternative to open neck or back surgery

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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.