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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