Facet Joint Syndrome / Arthritis
Overview
Facet joint syndrome
is an arthritis-like condition of the spine that can be a significant source of
back and neck pain.. Medication, physical therapy, joint injections, nerve
blocks, and nerve ablations may be used to manage symptoms. Chronic symptoms
may require surgery to fuse the joint.
Anatomy of the facet joints
The spine is made of a column of moveable bones called vertebrae
that connect to one another. Each vertebra functions as a three-joint complex
with a large disc in the front and two facet joints in the back.
What is
facet joint syndrome?
Pain that comes from one or more facet joints is called facet
joint syndrome or facet arthropathy. Degenerative changes in the spine may
cause body weight to shift unevenly to the facet joints
What
are the symptoms?
Facet joint degeneration can be painless until an event triggers
symptoms. There are several symptoms that indicate a person’s pain is coming
from the facet joints. The pain is often a diffuse, dull ache in the low back
directly over the spine that can spread to the buttocks. In the neck it can be
felt in the shoulders and back of the skull.
What
are the causes?
As we get older, cartilage in our joints wears down. An injury,
repetitive movements, obesity, poor posture and other spine conditions that
change the way the facet joints align and move can cause pain.
Changes in the facet joints can begin with the deterioration of a
vertebral disc. As the load of the body weight shifts to the facet joint, the
cartilage breaks down, the joint space narrows, and the bones rub together.
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