Are you regularly active, but when you stop to rest for extended periods of time, you have difficulty getting out of your chair or standing upright or rolling over to get out of bed? Is your only relief a hot shower and ibuprofen? If you answered yes or nodded your head to any of these questions, then you may have Facet Joint Arthropathy.
What is Facet Joint Arthropathy?
• It is another source of lower back and cervical pain.
• The pain is the result of degenerative cartilage located between the joints, arthritis, or the compression of descending nerve roots in the intervertebral foramen.
• It usually occurs in the elderly population, is a form of arthritis, and rarely occurs from an acute injury.
Sign and Symptoms of Facet Joint Arthropathy
• Pain intensifies when sedentary and standing for lengthy periods of time, causing the joints to become stiff, thus making it difficult to twist and bend.
Diagnosis
• It can be diagnosed with an MRI or CT.
Treatment
• The treatment plan for Facet Joint Arthropathy is moist heating pads, continued mobility, and NSAIDS.
• If the pain becomes unbearable, contact your general practitioner or primary care physician
for a referral to a pain management specialist.
• Steroid facet injections may be necessary.
References
Kaulitzki, S. (2019). 3d rendered medically accurate illustration of an arthritic lumbar spine. [Illustration].
Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/3d-rendered-medically-accurate-illustration-arthritic-1
470849371?src=z_sXKX1OfDcegtRAgKd3OA-2-75.
Salem Pain and Spine Specialists. (2019). Cervical/Thoracic/Lumbar Retrieved from http://www.salempainandspine.org/for-physicians/procedures-terminology/cervicalthoraciclumbar-
facet-arthropathy/.