Dr. Stefano Sinicropi, M.D.

A facet joint injection or a facet joint block is a procedure that delivers concentrated anti-inflammatory medication directly into an area of the spine that is causing pain. This injection helps to calm irritated and inflamed nerves in the spinal facet joints, but like all injections, unless they are paired with some other lifestyle adjustments or treatments, the effects of the injection will eventually wear off and you’ll be back to square one. In today’s blog, we share some tips for increasing the long-term effectiveness of your spinal facet joint injection.

Facet Joint Injection Effectiveness

Your facet joints are located at the back or posterior side of your spinal column, and each spinal vertebrae has two facet joints that help connect the bone with the vertebrae above and below it. Like other joints in the body, your facet joints help to facilitate movement and flexibility in the spinal column, but they are not immune from degeneration caused by repetitive stress or the natural aging process. Damage to these joints can lead to joint shifting or formative changes that end up irritating or compressing nearby nerves. It’s this nerve impingement and inflammation that your doctor is working to correct when prescribing a facet joint injection.

As we touched on above, injecting an anti-inflammatory agent directly into the affected area can prove helpful in the short-term, but unless you take other steps to address the underlying joint degeneration, nerve irritation is likely to return. To get the most out of a facet joint injection and increase its chances of helping to solve your problem in the long term, you’ll want to keep these tips in mind:

• Pair With Exercise Or Physical Therapy – Physical therapy is one of the most effective forms of treatment for irritated, compressed or inflamed spinal nerves, but we understand that PT can be hard to pursue if you are in pain as a result of your nerve damage. This is why it is so important to capitalize on the benefits being provided by your facet joint injection. While the injection is providing short-term relief, you need to be pursuing long-term treatments that target the root cause of your discomfort, like physical therapy. PT will help to improve movement patterns, strengthen supportive muscles and contribute to overall spinal stability, all of which can take stress off the facet joints and decrease the likelihood that nearby nerves become irritated. Don’t just sit in bed after an injection, because otherwise your relief will be short lived.
• Weight Loss – If you are overweight or obese, now is a great time to reevaluate your diet and exercise habits to help shed a few pounds. As we’ve talked about on the blog in the past, losing just one pound of body weight can take four pounds of stress off your spinal column, so losing just a little weight will go a long way in taking strain off your spine. This can also help to naturally decompress different areas of your spine, including your facet joints and nearby nerves. Talk with your doctor about some simple adjustments that can be made to improve your diet and increase your exercise habits in order to work towards a healthier weight.
• Pain Journaling – Some patients and providers also find benefit in creating a pain journal to document your symptoms after the injection. This helps you really see the type of pain relief you’re experiencing as well as how the effectiveness of the injection fades over time. This can provide some crucial insight for both patient and provider, especially if it’s likely that more than one injection may be needed. A pain journal helps to measure the effectiveness of the facet joint injection.
• Symptom Monitoring – Finally, make it a point to document or at least be aware of any possible symptoms you’re experiencing. A facet joint injection goes smoothly most of the time, but in some patients, it can present with issues like blurred vision, frequent urination, bladder weakness, increased pain or fluctuating blood sugar levels, especially in diabetic patients. Certain complications can end up derailing your progress, so if you are dealing with any of the symptoms that your doctor mentioned to watch for, get back in contact with their office.

For more information about spinal facet joint injections, or to talk with an expert about a different back or neck issue that you’re dealing with, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi and the team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Institute today at (651) 430-3800.

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