Facet joints are structures that are very sensitive to pain. The structure of the facet joints, which are of great importance in spinal mobility, can deteriorate with advancing age and trauma, and this can cause serious back pain. While the pain in a herniated disc is aggravated by bending forward, in facet syndrome, the opposite is aggravated by leaning back and turning to the side.
What is facet syndrome?
One of the causes of back pain in middle and older age is facet joint syndrome. The painful discomfort that occurs due to wear and tear in the facet joints is called facet syndrome or facet arthropathy. Facet joint pain is usually felt in the lumbar region.
What causes Facet Syndrome?
The main cause of facet joint syndrome is aging. In addition;
- Do not engage in hard sports for a long time,
- Continuous heavy load carrying
- Factors such as having incorrect body posture can lead to facet joint syndrome.
On the other hand, in addition to providing spinal movement, another function of the facet joints is to form a part of the holes called neural foramina through which the nerve roots coming out of the spinal cord leave the spinal canal and exit. Trauma, excessive load on the spine or various bone diseases can cause enlargement in the facet joints. In this case, the holes through which the nerves pass will narrow and the patient will experience symptoms resembling nerve compression similar to a herniated disc. This will cause back pain radiating to the hip and leg, seriously reducing the patient’s quality of life.
Facet syndrome symptoms
The most common symptoms of facet joint syndrome are as follows:
- The pain usually involves the lumbar region.
- Along with the lower back, in some cases the pain can also radiate to the hips; it can also affect the neck, shoulders and the back of the head.
- Situations such as leaning back, turning to the side, standing, or remaining motionless cause the pain to increase in intensity.
- Situations where the pain is relieved are as follows: bending forward, sitting, changing sitting position by not staying in a fixed position.
Facet Joint Syndrome Treatment
Facet syndrome pain can be relieved with interventional methods. In this sense, the most commonly used methods to control pain are facet joint injection and facet joint denervation. The nerves belonging to the facet joints carry pain signals to the brain. The aim of facet joint denervation is to prevent the transmission of these nerves. The most important modern method used to achieve this is radiofrequency thermocoagulation, which is based on the principle of applying controlled heat to the nerve. Local anesthetic and steroid are used within the scope of facet joint injection.