Facet Joint Injections

Be sure to arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment time, giving you time to fill out a new patient form.
Try and have something to eat before you arrive to the clinic and make sure to wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing.
Before your injection you will have a consultation with your consultant who will take the time to understand your injury and undertake a thorough assessment to make sure the injection or other intervention is right for you.

At your initial consultation, the doctor will take time to understand your symptoms and undertake a thorough assessment to ensure the injection is right for you. It is important to let the doctor know of any known allergies, such as plasters and to inform us if you are pregnant. Please also let the doctor know if you have any medical conditions and take any regular medications including blood thinning medications. This is also a great opportunity to ask the doctor any questions you may have about the procedure.

Before having your treatment eat and drink as normal, including taking any regular medication (unless otherwise advised by the doctor, e.g. blood thinning medication) and wear loose comfortable clothing.

The doctor will explain everything to you before your procedure and ask you to sign a consent form to confirm that you are happy to proceed.

All spinal injections are performed using our high-tech fluoroscopic x-ray for guidance and precision, by using this image guidance for accuracy and safety, the doctor can be confident the injectate is being delivered to the correct facet joints of the spine.

Local anaesthetic is used on the injection point to make the procedure as comfortable as possible for you, once the position has been checked with a special dye, visible on x-ray, the steroid will be injected. Some patients experience feelings of pressure as the fluid is injected, however are often surprised at how quick and comfortable the process is.

The steroid medication will usually take 48-72 hours to take effect. In some cases the benefit may appear almost immediately, in others it can build up gradually over a week to 14 days.

We have seen patients make a full recovery with facet joint injections time and time again. This is even more likely when patients have also benefited from the guidance of our experienced therapists who specialise in treating back pain.

However, this is not always the case sometimes we see patients symptoms return after 3 months or so. If you do feel the effects wearing off sooner than you would have liked, please don’t worry! If the pain relief is short- lived but significant, the injection can either be safely be repeated to give a longer- lasting effect or there is a treatment for facet joint pain that has been proven to provide longer term relief. This treatment is radiofrequency denervation (see leaflet for more info on this treatment).

Your facet joint steroid injection will be carried out by experienced consultant doctor Tom Saw

Facet joint steroid injections can be administered into the cervical, thoracic and lumbar parts of the spine, targeting the specific facet joint causing the symptoms. The anti-inflammatory steroid mimics the body’s own natural steroids, working to reduce swelling and the symptoms it can cause. The injectate contains a mixture of local anaesthetic and steroid, for immediate and longer term relief. This can support diagnosis as well as longer term

There are a wide range of symptoms that can be treated with steroid injections into the facet joints of the spine. Localised neck pain with muscle spasm, pain radiating up to the head or headaches, localised lumbar pain with muscle spasm or pain radiating from the back to the buttock and even into the upper thigh can all be caused by inflammation, degeneration or injury to the facet joints and the surrounding ligaments. This can be referred to as facet joint dysfunction, facet joint syndrome or mechanical back pain.

If this sounds familiar, we may be able to help! Research has shown that patients treated with steroid injections experienced reduced symptoms and improved function, with 78% returning to normal activities and rehabilitation sooner.