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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