treatment help for facet disease..

purplegdaisy

Regular Member

Joined : Feb 2005

Posts : 242

Posted 5/22/2009 10:33 PM (GMT 0)

Anyone have this? What have you tried for pain relief? I am at my wits end with this and tired of constantly hurting... My last set of nerve ablations 2 weeks ago have not seemed to help.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

PAlady

Veteran Member

Joined : Dec 2007

Posts : 6795

Posted 5/22/2009 11:29 PM (GMT 0)

Hi, purpledaisy,
Well, I've had facet joints pointed to as part of my problem. Along with the severe DDD, herniations, etc. Had a double fusion L4-S1 over a year ago. The facet nerve block didn't help me either, and that was tried prior to the fusion.

I know I read somewhere while researching all my surgery that someone (maybe Cleveland Clinic, but not sure) was doing trials on facet joint replacement (as opposed to a disk replacement) but I think it's very new and highly experimental.

It's so hard to isolate where pain is coming from! If they can find the nerve causing is, maybe RF or something along those lines. But they've got to isolate it first, and that's often done with injections. I also have the nerve pain down the buttock, leg, and numbness in feet.

Oh, gosh, does it ever end? I do know when my SI joint is out of place the pain is worse, but even when my PT puts it back into place, the pain's still not totally gone, just reduced. And my SI joint won't stay put, even with exercises and a belt.

I hope someone else here can help more!

PaLady

modelmaker

Regular Member

Joined : Feb 2009

Posts : 168

Posted 5/23/2009 12:53 AM (GMT 0)

Hi Purple..
I have facet joint problems all related to DDD. Apparently it is quite common to have facet joint involvement when you have disc problems. In my case, the vertebra are growing arthritic projections and that has involved arthritic growth on the adjacent facet joints as well. The treatments are very similar to those for DDD. In addition, the facets can be directly injected with blocks or steroids to reduce inflamation. Of course a fusion will eliminate the problem by joining the two sides of each facet joint and stopping any movement. But that causes a lot of other problems in the spine and is considered the last resort. The medial branch block injections for ablation have worked well for me in lower spine (L3-S1). As for pain relief, I use Celebrex for inflamation and oxycodone IR for pain. My pain is highly variable so my doc opted for the oxy IR rather than the oxycontin ER. I take it when things are really bad. Advil seems to help to a limited degree.

Chronic back pain is one of the toughest things to conquer. It seems to be a challenge even for the pain management specialists. I wish I had a better answer for you. We live for better days ahead.

Modelmaker

purplegdaisy

Regular Member

Joined : Feb 2005

Posts : 242

Posted 5/23/2009 12:58 AM (GMT 0)

Thanks for both of your responses. I feel like the doctors don't really know what to do except keep trying injections and Radio Frequence Ablation... which is basicall a crap shoot. Sometimes it helps and sometimes not...

I have been through months of PT and I could not really notice a difference. I keep thinking a hot tub would help as I love the heat on my back from a heating pad, but can't afford it right now.

Add to that, the almost daily migraines and some days it is not worth getting out of bed except for the beautiful 7 month old daughter I have!

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply