Facet Syndrome

IS THE CAUSE OF CHRONIC LOW BACK-NECK PAIN FACET SYNDROME?

Many patients suffering from low back and neck pains visit number of doctors with the application of incorrect and incomplete treatment without an accurate diagnosis based on a spinal and cervical disk hernia comment in MRI and take painkillers and lose their times and hopes for recovery as a result of useless applications.

However, the treatment of facet syndrome related low back and neck pain resulting from the corrosion of facet joints on the backside on spine is easy in case of true diagnosis.

Facet syndrome is an insufficiently recognized and neglected disease although it is the most common cause of low back-neck pains after the age of 50.

Bone structure consisting of our spine, in other words, facet joints on the backside of vertebrae allow the spine to move flexibly. Facet joint is close both to the canal in which spinal cord is located and to the canal where the nerves going towards legs or arms from spinal cord go out.

The following factors may lead to severe neck, back and low back pains:

• Arthritis on spine due to ageing,
• Spine damages as a result of long term inactive sitting or standing,
• Performance of heavy duties or unsuitable exercises,
• Unbalanced load bearing, lifting a load suddenly,
• Spine structure disorders (scoliosis, kyphoses etc.),
• Corrosion on facet joints due to traumas.
• Pains related to facet joint damage are observed at the back and neck area in the form of a low back and neck pain and diffuse to lateral sections of back and neck, arms, hip and upper leg. Spinal and cervical disk hernia pain increases if the patient leans toward whereas back and neck pains related to facet syndrome increase if the patient turns back and sideways.

In case of very advanced facet joint corrosions, the nerves going out the spinal cord can also be exposed to compression and the pain can imitate hernia by diffusing to arms and legs.

If examination findings are not assessed properly and the MR images taken indicate hernia, facet syndrome can go unnoticed and applied treatment does not give result.

It may lead to serious problems if hernia treatment is applied incorrectly upon the detection of hernia in MRI for the pains related to facet syndrome which is generally observed between the ages of 17-25. Innate fractures at the facet area must necessarily be taken into consideration. Otherwise, this may cause successive shift of two vertebrae. Lysis, lysthesis and spinabifida which are colloquially called as spinabifida and curvature of the spine is a problem closely involving facet joint and peripheral structures.

Treatments in facet syndrome:

• Physiotherapy: Treatments with tissue circulation increasing and antispasmodic effects like ultrasound, hyle therapy, analgesic currents and iontophoresis.
• DRX9000 Spinal Decompression Method: It must be applied if facet syndrome causes spine shift and inter-vertebrae contraction.
• The joint with a restricted movement is detected and activated through manual treatment. The disorder in spine biomechanics is dealt with.
• Facet joint injection: It is applied to relax the blocked joint and maximize mobility.
• Customized exercises: Exercises for leaning towards, strengthening core muscles and stretching such as walking, cycling etc.
• Correct sitting and working positions in daily life must be taught.