What Are Facet Joint Injections?

facet joint back pain
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Facet joints are small joints that connect our vertebrae and allow our spines to move. Like all the joints in our body, they are susceptible to arthritis and injury. In these cases, our facet joints can cause pain, inflaming tissues in the area and sometimes compressing nerve roots in the spine.
A facet joint injection is useful for both diagnosing and treating arthritis or other injuries affecting the facet joints of your back. An interventional pain management specialist, such as Dr. Nickhil Gupta, will administer a local anesthetic to your back and then inject the painful facet joint directly with a powerful, long lasting anti-inflammatory medicine.

If you feel substantial relief following a facet joint injection, your doctor can successful diagnose that particular joint with an injury. It can then be used as a therapy to relieve your painful symptoms. the corticosteroid medication will relieve pain in the joint for months at a time and can be repeated if necessary. Some patients only need one injection, where as many do a series of three over the course of months.

Facet joint injections are a minimally invasive way to relieve chronic pain that can disrupt daily life. Patients who do not respond to physical therapy or over the counter medication often find much-needed relief from debilitating back pain with this pain management technique.
If your back pain keeps returning and interrupting your lifestyle, schedule a consult with your pain management specialist. Dr. Nickhil Gupta and the entire New York Bone and Joint Specialists team are dedicated to helping patients live the life they love. With in house physical therapy, the most sophisticated pain management treatments, and top rated orthopedics and sports.
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