Why Get A Facet Joint Injection?
There are basically two reasons for a facet joint injection: • For diagnosis (to determine the source of pain) or • For therapy (to treat an abnormality that has been detected.) Most back pain will improve within a few weeks by itself, or with conservative treatments such as rest, antiinflammatory medications, physical therapy and exercise. However, if you suffer from back pain for more than six weeks and conservative treatments have not helped, or if your pain has increased, your physician may order diagnostic tests such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computerized tomography (CT) scans to look at the structures of the spine. A problem (such as inflammation, irritation, swelling or arthritis) in the facet joint may cause low back pain. If these diagnostic tests show an abnormality in a facet joint, it may be the source of the pain. To determine if a facet joint is truly the source of back pain, an injection (sometimes called a “block”) may be prescribed. If an injection of a sm
