Facet arthropathy is the term for arthritis that affects the facet joints in your spine. Each vertebra in what spine is connected to an adjacent segment by a pair of supportive facet joints. These joints assist with normal spinal motion as you bend and twist.
Over time or as a result of acute injury, these facet joints can wear down. This breakdown and inflammation of your facet joints is known as facet arthropathy, facet joints arthritis or facet joint syndrome. In today’s blog, we explain how we help patients treat and overcome symptoms caused by facet joint arthropathy.
Causes And Symptoms Of Facet Joint Arthropathy
Facet joint arthropathy can develop in any area of the spine, and the underlying causes and symptoms will vary depending on the location of your facet joint arthritis. Some different types of facet joint arthropathy include:
- Cervical FJA
- Thoracic FJA
- Lumbar FJA
- Bilateral FJA
- Multilevel FJA
- Hypertrophic FJA
As we mentioned in the introduction, the most common cause of facet arthropathy is natural wear and tear. Over the course of your life, the protective cartilage and lubricating fluid in our joints can wear down, making movement less efficient and even uncomfortable as parts of the joint rub against one another. Most people have mild facet joint degeneration by the time they reach their 50s and beyond, but it’s not always symptomatic. Acute injury to the spine can also expedite the degenerative process.
Symptoms of facet joint arthropathy include localized back pain, stiffness, tenderness, loss of range of motion, radiating discomfort and muscle spasms. The location of these symptoms will vary, as patients with cervical facet joint arthropathy may notice symptoms in their head, neck and arms, while patients with lumbar facet joint arthropathy may have symptoms in their buttocks, hips and legs.
Treating Facet Arthropathy
If a physical assessment and an imaging exam reveals that you are dealing with symptomatic facet arthropathy, your treating physician will walk you through some treatment options. In the vast majority of cases, your doctor will recommend a combination of conservative treatments to help alleviate symptoms. Since you won’t be able to restore lost cartilage, treatment will be focused on strengthening the area and maintaining as much comfortable movement as possible. Those treatments typically include:
- Exercise
- Physical therapy
- Working towards a healthy weight
- Posture improvements
- Hot/Cold therapy
- Activity modifications
If conservative techniques fail to provide relief, your doctor may move towards more hands-on care. Spinal injections can provide some targeted short-term relief, or your doctor may recommend a surgical procedure. The specifics of your operation will be based on your individual needs, but the goal of surgery typically involves debriding any problematic bone spurs that have developed on the degenerative joint or decompressing any nerves that have become impinged. Most patients don’t need an operation to address their facet arthropathy, but surgery does tend to have a high success rate when pursued. For more information about facet arthropathy or other spinal conditions, reach out to Dr. Jackman and the team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Institute today at (651) 430-3800.
What To Know About Adult Scoliosis
