Lumbar Facet Joint Injection

What is a Lumbar Facet Injection?

A facet injection will place a numbing fluid into the joint whilst a steroid medicine will also be added. This is normally a time released cortisone which will help to reduce any inflammation. The numbing medicine first used can provide immediate relief as it did in my case.

The Procedure

The patients are placed on the X-ray table on their stomach in such a way that the physician can best visualize these joints in the back using x-ray guidance. The skin on the low back is scrubbed using 2 types of sterile scrub (soap). Next, the physician numbs a small area of skin with numbing medicine. This medicine stings for several seconds. After the numbing medicine has been given time to be effective, the physician directs a very small needle, using x-ray guidance into the joint. A small amount of contrast (dye) is injected to insure proper needle position inside the joint space. Then, a small mixture of numbing medicine (anesthetic) and anti-inflammatory (cortisone/steroid) is injected. One or several joints may be injected depending on location of the patients usual pain.

Post Procedure

Immediately after the procedure, the patient will get up and be asked to ambulate try to imitate something that would normally bring about their usual pain. Patients are then asked to report the percentage of pain relief

The leg(s) may feel weak or numb for a few hours. This is fairly uncommon, but does occasionally happen. The patient may be referred to a chiropractor or physical therapist immediately after the injection(s) while the numbing medicine is still working for manipulation or massage.

Risks

Although these are pretty infrequent this was all I could find when I researched it. Nerve damage, bruising at the site, infection at the injection site.

My Opinion

This worked really well for me and gave me 2 - 3 months of very little pain. I even went surfing after this and thought everything was fixed. What I did not take into account was that for some people this is just a temporary fix and for others it can be a permanent fix. After the 2-3 months I was back where I started and it felt more pain full probably because without the pain I had been a little more than previously. The procedure is not really painful and minimal discomfort.