When Is a Facet Injection Necessary?

If you’re one of the nearly 100 million people in the United States who report experiencing back or neck pain, you may want to consider facet joint injections. While many cases resolve on their own within 6-12 months, plenty of others lead to ongoing or worsening distress. 

Facet injections are a minimally invasive treatment for lingering pain issues that don’t respond to other treatments.

Dr. Nicholas Perenich and his team at Spine Institute of Florida in Dade City and Spring Hill offer a variety of treatments to alleviate pain, ranging from conservative care to surgery.

If you’re curious about facet joint injections, read on to learn whether they may be ideal for you.

How facet joint injections work

Facet joints are small, paired joints in your spine that provide stability and allow your back to bend and twist with ease. Facet joint injections treat back and neck pain related to these joints.

The injections place short-acting and longer-acting medications to bring you relief that starts quickly and increases over time. Each session takes 15-30 minutes, after which you may be monitored for up to an hour. 

During your session, you’ll lie on your stomach, face down. The skin above your facet joint will be cleaned and then numbed, using a topical anesthetic. 

From there, your provider will insert a thin needle into the targeted joint, guiding with X-ray or ultrasound technology. Once the needle has been properly placed (confirmed using a bit of injected dye), the medication blend will be injected.

You won’t likely be sedated for the procedure, unless you’d like or need medication for calmness. If you receive a sedative, you’ll need to arrange for a ride home.

What to expect after facet joint injections

Many people can go straight back to their daily activities following facet joint injections. Thanks to the short-acting medication, such as lidocaine, you should notice a good amount of pain relief immediately, and it lasts a couple of hours. A longer-acting drug, such as bupivacaine, may add to that relief for a good eight hours. Benefits from corticosteroids, the longest-acting of the medications, typically appear within a few days.

To prevent an infection, avoid soaking the area in water for at least 48 hours. Once your pain has improved to even a moderate degree, you can gradually get back to your usual exercise. Doing so may even bolster your pain relief.

While individual results vary, you can expect your facet injection results to last 2-4 months, if not longer.

Who needs facet joint injections

You may be a candidate for facet injections if you’ve experienced moderate to severe neck or back pain for at least 3 months, regardless of other treatments. If you’ve tried rest, oral medication, and physical therapy yet continue to experience pain, for example, they may provide a smart option.

In particular, chronic facet pain is associated with these chronic conditions:

• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Degenerative spondylolisthesis
• Osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Scoliosis
• Spinal stenosis

You can also experience facet joint-related pain due to an injury, such as a spinal fracture.  

If one of these conditions has you in ongoing pain and you’d like to avoid surgery, we may recommend facet joint injections.

A comprehensive exam is the best way to determine whether facet injections are right for you. To learn more or get started, call Spine Institute of Florida or schedule an appointment through our website today.