Facet Disease Facts Resources
Resources
Foraminal Stenosis
Foraminal stenosis describes the choking or restriction of space for nerve roots exiting the foramen.
Spinal Stenosis
An explanation detailing the back condition called spinal stenosis, along with symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and surgery.
Scar Tissue Facts
Information about how scar tissue develops and the role it plays in healing injuries.
Pinched Nerve
Answering the questions of how a nerve becomes pinched, what are the symptoms of a pinched nerve, and how it is treated
Spinal Arthritis
Arthritis in the spine can happen in a few different locations, including the facet joint.
Treatments
Percutaneous Discectomy
Percutaneous Discectomy is the surgical removal of herniated disc/bulging disc material that presses on a nerve root or the spinal cord.
Facet Thermal Ablation
A Facet Thermal Ablation is a procedure very similar to a root canal a dentist performs. The surgeon uses a laser to clean the facet joint and deaden the nerve that innervates the joint and causes painful symptoms.
Laminotomy
A laminotomy is a surgical procedure that is used to relieve pressure off the spinal canal for the exiting nerve root and spinal cord, increasing the amount of space available for the neural tissue and thus releasing the nerve(s).
Foraminotomy
Foraminotomy is a medical operation used to relieve pressure on nerves that are being compressed by the intervertebral foramen.
Facet Disease Treatment
List of treatments available for facet disease.
Symptoms
Muscular Weakness
When a bone spur develops as a result of arthritis in the facet joint, it can start to affect the sciatic nerve showing signs of sciatica such as weakness.
Reduced motion
When a joint becomes arthritic, its range of movement can become severely restricted.
Numbness
When a bone spur develops as a side condition of arthritis, if it places pressure on a nerve numbness can be felt in the extremities as a result.
Radiating Pain
Facet Arthritis will often aid in the development of bone spurs, which although not a part of arthritis, will lead to sciatica type symptoms of radiating pain in the extremities.
Lower Back Pain
Unlike the radiating pain caused by other conditions such as herniated disc, arthritic pain is localized to the joint that is affected
Causes
Disc Degeneration
Through wear and tear, our spinal discs can start to degenerate, causing the bones in the spine to rub against each other, aiding in the development of facet arthritis
Facet Degeneration
As the facet joint begins to degenerate the vertebrae can start to rub against each other aiding in the onset of facet arthropathy.
Age
Age can cause the disc in our spinal to slowly break down, allowing for bone on bone rubbing and the development of facet arthritis