If you have ever heard of facet syndrome, you have probably had it. Other than having it, you have probably never even heard of a facet. Facets are where two joints of the vertebra join together and become the facet joint. They touch each other in the spine to help with range of motion and stability. Around each facet there is a capsule (Think of a bubble with fluid inside it for protection) with tiny nerves in the capsule.

In between each vertebra (bone) of the spine is the disc, which acts like a spacer. When the disc is injured, it will compress and put more pressure on the facet joint, which causes erosion of the joint and will result in pain. A typical symptom of “Facet Joint Pain” is pain on extension (bending backwards). When you extend the spine, you put more pressure on the joint, increasing the pain.

Most Common Areas

The most common areas of facet joint pain is in your low back and in your neck. In my office the most common area is in the low back, particularly L4-L5 level of the spine. People will say that they are worse in the mornings, can “walk it off” after a little while, and bending backwards isn’t an option. They have stiffness and difficulty standing up straight and getting out of a chair. It may cause you to walk in a hunched over position.

When you have an angry facet joint, imagine bending backward and jamming that joint together even more. Obviously, bending backwards will not feel great. It is said that facet syndrome accounts for 15-60% of low back pain. With women being more common then men.

There are 2 facet joints to every level. With 26 spinal vertebra, there are 50 facet joints that could cause irritation. The facet joints bear up to 20% of the forces that act vertically on the spine.

Causes

Facet syndrome can be caused by trauma, such as a whiplash injury of the neck or a ramping of the the low back (think of whiplash for the low back). Abnormal postures (text neck) can overload spinal tissues and the facet joints, which cause irritation, which leads to inflammation and pain.

Repetitive movements, obesity, poor posture and other spine conditions that change the way the facet joints align and cause our cartilage in the joints to wear down.

Changes in the facet joints can begin with the deterioration of a vertebral disc. As the load of the body weight shifts to the facet joint, the cartilage breaks down, the joint space narrows, and the bones rub together.

Chiropractic

If you are having any kind of low back pain (or any other pain), give us or a chiropractor near you a call! At our office we work a lot with muscles through muscle therapies along with the chiropractic adjustment.

Getting inflammation out of the joint capsule is the number one priority to get you out of pain. Ice is nice. Stay away from that heating pad! Once you have the condition under control, you can switch ice and heat, but in the initial phase you only want to use ice.

It’s always important to not “wait for the pain to go away”. If it does go away, it will come back and more often then not, come back worse! Protecting your joints, discs and bones from degeneration is key to having a healthy spine. Inflammation causes degeneration and spinal changes. Most of which is not reversible. Save your spine and call a chiropractor!

~Dr. Lacey~
Carder Chiropractic Clinic, INC
El Reno, OK 73036