FAQ's About Cervical Facet Joint Injections

If you are struggling with chronic neck pain, stiffness, or headaches, a cervical facet joint injection in Louisville, KY may provide the relief you need. At Kentuckiana Pain Specialists, Dr. Ajith Nair uses these precise, image-guided injections to diagnose and treat pain originating from the small joints of your upper spine. Whether your discomfort is caused by arthritis, whiplash, or wear-and-tear, our goal is to restore your mobility and reduce inflammation without the need for invasive surgery.

During this procedure, an anesthetic and a steroid are injected into one or more of the cervical facet joints. The injection can be used to diagnose and/or treat. If the injection temporarily lessens your pain and helps you move your neck better, then your doctor will know which facet joint is causing the pain.

If the joints become painful due to arthritis, injury, or mechanical stress, they can cause pain in various areas. The cervical facet joints can cause pain in your head, neck, shoulder or arm. A facet joint injection serves several purposes. Because cervical facet issues often mimic nerve-related discomfort, we also provide epidural steroid injections for patients experiencing radiating arm pain or numbness alongside their neck pain. First, by placing numbing medicine into the joint, the amount of immediate pain relief you experience will help confirm or deny the joint as a source of your pain. That is, if you obtain complete relief of your main pain while the facet joints are numb, then these joints are likely your pain source. Furthermore, time-release cortisone will be injected into these joints to reduce any presumed inflammation, which can, on many occasions, provide long-term pain relief.

An IV will be started so that adequate relaxation medicine can be given, if needed. After lying on an X-ray table, the skin over the area of the spine to be treated will be well cleansed. Next, the physician numbs a small area of skin with numbing medicine (anesthetic), which stings for a few seconds. Next, the physician will use X-ray guidance to direct a very small needle into the joint. He then injects several drops of contrast dye to confirm that the medicine only goes into the joint. A small mixture of numbing medicine (anesthetic) and anti-inflammatory cortisone is then slowly injected.

Symptoms Treated by Cervical Facet Injections

If you experience the following, a facet injection may be the right diagnostic or therapeutic step for you:

• Localized Neck Pain: A deep ache that stays in the neck area.

• Movement Triggers: Pain that worsens when tilting your head back or turning side-to-side.

• Referred Pain: Aching that spreads into the shoulders or upper shoulder blades.

• Cervicogenic Headaches: Frequent headaches that seem to start at the base of the skull.

• Limited Mobility: Difficulty checking blind spots while driving or looking upward.

20-30 minutes after the procedure, you move your area of usual discomfort to try to provoke your usual pain. You report your remaining pain (if any) and record the relief you experience during the next week in a “pain diary”. You may or may not feel improvement during the first few hours after the injection. This depends on if the joints injected are your main pain source.

On occasion, the part of your treated spine may feel slightly weak or odd for a few hours after the injection. You may notice a slight increase in your pain lasting for several days, as the numbing medicine wears off before the cortisone becomes effective. Ice is typically more helpful that heat during the first 2-3 days after the injection. You may begin to notice an improvement in your pain 2-5 days after the injection. If you do not notice improvement within 10 days after the injection, it is unlikely to occur. For many patients, if this diagnostic injection provides significant temporary relief, it confirms the facet joint as the pain source. In these cases, Dr. Nair may recommend radiofrequency ablation to provide much longer-lasting results for chronic cervical spine conditions.

You may take your regular medications after the procedure, but try to limit any pain medications for the first 4-6 hours after the procedure. This will ensure that the diagnostic information obtained from the procedure is accurate.

On the day of the injection you should not drive and should avoid any strenuous activities. On the day after the procedure, you may return to your regular activities.

When your pain is improved, start your regular exercise in moderation. Even if you are significantly improved, gradually increase your activities over 1-2 weeks to avoid recurrence of your pain.