Facet Joint Injections in Houston, Texas
The facet joints are the small paired joints at the back of every spinal segment. They guide and limit motion, and like every other synovial joint in the body, they develop arthritis. When they do, they produce a deep, aching, poorly localized pain that worsens when you arch backward and eases when you bend forward.
What is a Facet Joint Injection?
A facet joint injection delivers corticosteroid and local anesthetic directly into the joint capsule under fluoroscopic guidance. Unlike a medial branch block, which anesthetizes the nerves supplying the joint, this places medication inside the joint itself.
It serves two purposes: reducing intra-articular inflammation, and helping confirm that the joint is contributing to your pain.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Before | You're positioned, the skin is cleaned and numbed, and live imaging (fluoroscopy or ultrasound) guides the needle |
| During | The medication is placed precisely at the facet joint; most people feel pressure more than sharp pain |
| After | You rest briefly and go home the same day — arrange a driver if you received sedation |
Where Facet Pain Is Felt
Facet joints refer pain in reproducible patterns:
- Cervical facets — neck pain radiating to the shoulder, shoulder blade, or base of the skull
- Thoracic facets — mid-back pain, occasionally wrapping toward the ribs
- Lumbar facets — low back pain radiating to the buttock and posterior thigh, characteristically stopping above the knee
Pain that travels below the knee, or into the hand, points away from the facet joint and toward a nerve root.
Facet Injection or Medial Branch Block?
Both target facet-mediated pain. The intra-articular injection is often chosen when inflammation within the joint is prominent, such as in an acute flare or an inflammatory arthritis. The medial branch block is preferred when the goal is to determine candidacy for radiofrequency ablation, since the ablation targets those same nerves.
Your physician will explain which pathway fits your presentation rather than defaulting to one.
Relief from Facet Joint Pain at Remix Medical
Back and neck pain that worsens with extension and eases with flexion has a specific likely cause and a specific set of treatments.