Facet Joint Pain: The Cause of Back and Neck Problems

One of the most common forms of pain that people experience includes back and neck problems. There can be plenty of reasons that can cause such unavoidable pains. Have you heard about Facet Joint Pain? It is one of the main causes of back and neck pains.

What is Facet Joint?
This joint is also known as Zygapophysial joint and Facet Joint Syndrome. The Wikipedia describes it as ‘a synovial joint between the superior articular process of one vertebra and the inferior articular process of the vertebra directly above it.’  If this joint is closed or partially open or is in a stuck state, it may cause dysfunction.  When this happens, the surrounding muscles lose their flexibility and become tight which results in Facet Joint Pain.

What can cause Facet Joint Pain?
General wear and tear, injury, bad posture, deterioration of cartilages, improper spinal curvature, related vertebral discs, too much of arching in the lower area of the back, etc are some of the main causes of Facet Joint Pain.

Symptoms of Lower Back Facet Syndrome and Neck-Cervical Facet Syndrome

Lower Back Facet Joint Pain:

• severe pain in the lower back
• pain while bending or twisting
• movement of pain to the buttocks or towards the backside of the thighs
• difficulty in performing any activity
• pain during sitting down or getting up from the chair
• pain during standing up

Neck-Cervical Facet Syndrome:

• unbearable pain in the neck
• headaches
• shoulder pain
• not able to bend
• not able to rotate the head
  

How to Get Rid of Facet Joint Pain?
Strengthening and stretching exercises are the best solution to reducing facet joint pain. You can also approach a physiotherapist to  get the best treatment.

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