A Facet Joint Injection aids in chronic pain of the lower back (not sciatica pain) and upper legs. It is similar to an epidural because it uses the same medicine – A combination of a numbing medication (such as lidocaine) and cortisone. Cortisone is a steroid that blocks the nerves from sending pain signals.
The difference between an epidural and a Facet Joint Injection is the medicine is injected into a different space — Between the facet joints in the facet spaces — Which also blocks the medial branch nerve.
If this type of pain management does not bring relief for very long (for example, about 2 weeks) then we can bring you back to try another approach: The Diagnostic Block.
In this situation, we inject just the numbing medication, and if this provides you with 60%-80% relief for a couple days, then we can try a different treatment such as Radiofrequency Ablation.
This is also a great option for diabetics and patients that are severely osteoporodic.
Treatment Options
Call us so we can set up an appointment to discuss your options for chronic pain treatment. Dr Henriquez strives to provide an approach for personal and compassionate care.
Learn more about Lower Back Pain & Treatments
Facet Joint Injection – 2 Minute Video
Radiofrequency Ablation – Article about this type of treatment.
