There are many cervical facet joints located in your upper spine. If these vertebral joints start to deteriorate, it can cause pain, discomfort, and difficulty in your daily activities.
The cervical area of the spine includes the neck and upper shoulders, near the neck. Chronic pain in this part of the body makes it difficult to complete some of the most basic daily tasks, such as work, household activities, driving, family responsibilities, and more.
What Are Symptoms of Cervical Facet Joint Problems?
Are you experiencing pain and problems with your cervical facet joints? The symptoms can vary from one patient to the next, depending on the location of the joint and the severity of your condition.
Common symptoms include:
- Local pain in the affected joint
- Stiffness or soreness in the neck and surrounding areas
- Headaches
- Limited neck mobility
As this condition progresses, other complications can occur. For example, some patients also have the presence of bone spurs, which happen due to a loss of cartilage between the bones. The body tries to restabilize the joint using small bone spurs, which can increase a patient’s pain experience.
What Causes Cervical Facet Syndrome?
Why are you having problems with your cervical facet joints? This syndrome can happen because of a variety of triggers.
Often, patients have a specific event that caused an injury, such as an accident, whiplash, or blunt trauma.
Additionally, this syndrome can develop because of daily lifestyle factors. Sitting with an abnormal posture can put pressure on the joints, eventually leading to tissue degeneration between the joints.
The most common cause of cervical facet syndrome is the natural aging process. As the body ages, the structure starts to change – which can increase the risk of weakness and pain in the joints. Therefore, this syndrome most often affects people later in life.
Does Cervical Facet Syndrome Go Away?
Minor pain affecting the cervical facet joints might reduce with at-home treatments and self-care. But if you find that this pain is getting worse or continuing longer than two weeks, it’s unlikely that the pain will go away without medical intervention.
In fact, untreated cervical facet syndrome can lead to chronic pain. The condition is most effectively treated when addressed in the earliest stages. If you notice symptoms, the best solution is to talk to a doctor as soon as possible for a diagnosis.
Instead of living with the pain, it might be time to talk to a doctor about available treatment options. Our team is here to help with an in-depth diagnosis process, including a variety of treatment solutions to address immediate pain and help you avoid complications in the future.
How Do You Treat Cervical Facet Pain?
One effective solution for treating cervical facet pain is using injections in the joint. This process involves injecting medications into the actual facet joints located between each set of vertebrae.
The facet joints run along the spine from the tailbone to the neck, and injections are placed in the target area where the pain is originating.
Here is an overview of what you can expect during a cervical facet joint injection:
The doctor uses digital imagery to identify the optional place for this injection. By using a needle, a medication combination is injected into the joint, usually including an anesthetic for immediate relief and a steroid to reduce the inflammation.
This treatment can be used in one or more cervical facet joints, depending on your individual needs. Not only does the injection help with treatment, but it is also beneficial for diagnosis as well.
What Happens During a Facet Joint Injection Procedure?
If you decide to have a cervical facet joint injection, there are a variety of modern tools that we use to ensure your comfort and the success of the treatment.
This appointment starts using an IV to help you relax if needed. You will be lying on an x-ray table, and the doctor will cleanse the skin in the affected area of the spine. Then, you will feel a slight stinging sensation as the numbing medication is injected into the area.
Next, the x-ray machine is used to guide the doctor when inserting a small needle into the joint. Finally, several drops of contrast dye are helpful to make sure the medication goes into the joint directly. The final injection is a combination of the anesthetic as well as anti-inflammatory cortisone.
Why This Treatment Is Helpful
When you are considering whether a facet joint injection is the right treatment for your condition, it can be helpful to talk to a pain medicine specialist about your unique symptoms.
Keep in mind that painful joints not only cause localized pain, but this pain can also radiate into the arm, shoulder, neck, or head. This type of chronic pain often takes a toll on many areas of your life.
There are several reasons why we like to use facet joint injections as part of the pain management process:
- Diagnosis: Injecting the anesthetic into the joint helps us confirm or deny that the joint is the root cause of your pain. If we are targeting the right joint, then you will likely experience immediate pain relief.
- Ongoing Pain Management: The steroid medication effectively reduces inflammation, which offers ongoing relief. We use time-released cortisone, which can have a lasting effect and be an essential part of an ongoing treatment plan.
What Will Happen After the Joint Injection Procedure?
For the first 20 or 30 minutes after the injection, you will likely experience the typical pain when moving that area of the body. However, we recommend that you continue paying attention to how the pain severity and intensity changes over time.
For example, it’s a good idea to use a pain management journal to record the relief you are experiencing after the treatment. Depending on the joint we targeted with the treatment, it might take longer than the first few hours to notice a difference in your pain.
In some cases, patients feel slight discomfort or weakness for the first few hours after injection. Some people even have an increase in pain that can last for several days.
These symptoms occur after the numbing medication wears off but before the full effect of the cortisone takes place.
You might benefit by using ice packs for the first 2 or 3 days after injection. However, if you don’t notice an improvement in symptoms within 10 days after the injection, then it’s unlikely that you will experience any additional benefits from the treatment.
Can Facet Syndrome Be Cured?
Doctors are continuing to research cures for this syndrome. However, since there isn’t a known cure for facet syndrome, the best recommendation is to focus on pain management to optimize your lifestyle.
Pain Management Services for Cervical Back Pain
If you are experiencing either severe or chronic back pain, then our team at Kentuckiana Pain Specialists is here to help. We use a two-step approach to reduce your immediate pain and help you find long-term solutions to improve your lifestyle.
Learn more about our comprehensive pain management solutions, including alternative treatment and personalized support. You can find our office in Louisville, Kentucky. Call our office at (502) 995-4004.