Facet joint injections

What is facet joint pain?

Facet joints are tiny joints located between the bones of your spine (the vertebrae) and function in bending and twisting.
Pain from these joints can occur in conditions including osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis but also after trauma such as motor vehicle accident, a condition known as “traumatic arthritis.”
The pain from the facet joint is carried by the medial branch nerve from the joint itself to your spinal cord and then the brain.
Typically, pain from facet joints is felt in the low back or the neck but it may cause pain in the thighs or upper back, too.

The purpose of this injection is to diagnose pain stemming from a facet joint by injecting a numbing medication (local anesthetic).
Your provider will use x-ray to perform this injection.
Sometimes this procedure can provide prolonged pain relief of low back or neck pain. However, quite often, the injection is diagnostic (meaning that it confirms that your pain is due to an injured facet joint) but does not provide lasting pain relief. In this scenario, an additional procedure, radiofrequency ablation, may be appropriate.

Since this injection is diagnostic, we encourage you to walk around or do other activities that typically provoke or worsen your pain after the procedure. These activities may include standing, bending over, doing household chores or twisting.
You may need a ride home after your injection, please ask the clinic if you have questions about this.
Mild bruising and soreness around the injection site may occur.
- Applying ice for a few days may reduce inflammation and pain
- Continue to take your regular pain medication
You will be asked to use a pain diary after the injection. Recording pain levels for a few days after the procedure will help to track the level of relief achieved.

Potential risks with inserting a needle include bleeding, infection, pain flare, allergic reaction, headache, and nerve damage (rare).
Please notify the provider if the injection site becomes infected (fever or drainage at the injection site) or inflamed (redness, swelling, pain at the site), or if you suspect nerve injury.