Facet Joint Injections

Hi,

I had facet joint injections a few months ago now for my CS and was told that in very rare cases does anything go wrong, it did ease the pain in my neck for only a couple of weeks but did nothing for the pain i was getting in my arms and back

If i can help with any other questions you might have please ask.

Hi Tim,

Many thanks for your much appreciated reply.

I am nervous at the thought of having injections into my neck, followed by further injections into my shoulders, back, hips and knees - as our local hospital is voted the as one of the dirtiest in the UK !!! :shock:

Sadly, I am not getting sufficient pain relief with the currently prescribed medication (as the condition is degenerative).

You mentioned that it only relived the pain in your neck for a couple of weeks - all in all was it worth it ?

Wish you less pain,

Regards :-)

I was also offered injections into the facet joints by our pain clinic consultant.

My family completely freaked out at the idea - as if anything did go wrong with the procedure it could possibly ruin all of our lives.

For the consultant to tell you that nothing can go wrong is really rather arrogant and I advise you to proceed with extreme caution when dealing with such an ego !

Good luck !

Hi Dr. Who,

Thank you for your much appreciated reply and advice.

I guess that the consultant who does the facet joint injections is an absolute expert and has probably done this procedure thousands of times to date.

The case of possibly gaining some pain relief vs. the pain getting much worse is tempting enough to take a calculated risk and go for the injections, as my life is becoming absolute hell from the increasing pain levels.

Regards :shock:

Hi,

At the time when i had my facet joint injections the pain was that bad i was willing to give anything a chance even though it only releived the pain in my neck for a while.

Why not become a member of patient uk? as we are all in the same boat as to say.

Hiya,

I've had the injections in my lumbar region for spondylosis and saddle sciatica, they helped enormously, the flip side of the coin, my brother who has severe cervical spondy had the injections in his cervical facets which sent him of the pain scale for many weeks, :cry: he won't be having them again.

Take Care

Emxx :wink:

My family and I met someone who has had a series of facet joint injections at a very famous private London Hospital.

He was told as he signed the op consent form that there was a rare but 75% realistic chance of getting paralyzed if there was screw-up with the procedure :shock: He got seven days pain relief but he now cannot raise his arms above his head as a result of the procedure and the pain has returned too :shock:

The hassle and anxiety this has caused my family has been very stressful indeed. I am going to refuse this procedure on the grounds that I cannot accept the risks associated with this procedure. :shock:

I am not however getting adequate pain relief with my current medication,

My question is - will I be refused any further treatment by the pain clinic for refusing the facet joint injection procedure ?

Please advise, thank you x

Hiya,

I can only relate my brothers expirience to you, he refused another round of facet joint injections, and was offered aromatherapy, I couldn't possibly print his reaction :D however, when the doc looked at his medical and scan reports she told him had she had seen them first she wouldn't have advised for him to have the injections.

My own personal view, if I was offered the injections at cervical level would be to refuse, there a just too many nerves round that area.

Em

Hiya Aunty M,

Many thanks for your much appreciated reply and advice !

Perhaps I should consider asking for a stronger pain killing medication !

Regards :idea:

hello in pain, i can only warn you of what happened to me, i have had cs for coming up tp 17yrs and i have had my medication progressivly increased, each time it has knocked me off my feet, it takes some time to get used to the dosage and side effects. it has been increased tosuch an extent that i am now on oxycontin 40mg a day. i have on a normal day been confused,dozy,tired, zoned out completely. over the past six to eight months i have been cutting down my meds, so i would say speak to your pain management consultant, get as much information as possible and thrash it out with him/her. good luck but just be aware that going down the increased meds route is a precarious one. bye chris

Hiya Chris 215a,

Many thanks your your much appreciated reply and advice.

Also had my dosage increased over the last 3 years (as the pain has increased considerably with the advancement of this degenerative condition) :cry:

Now prescribed a daily dosage 360 mg of Dihydrocodeine MR and sometimes get a little constipated but I never get sleepy or high - as it only a takes a little of the edge of the constant chronic pain.

I wish that I could get more pain relief. I keep myself as active as possible which sometimes distracts me from being in pain !

Sadly, I am already dependent on meds !

Kind Regards & wish you less pain too ! :wink:

hello again in pain, i have been on dihydrocodiene, as well as tramadol, which is effective for a time being, but all the neds i have taken work for a while and when you get used to them you need a stronger one to take away the pain. i have also had liquid morphine,(oromorph),amytrytiline, palfium,gabapentin, these are not in order you understand, i dont have the memory to list them as i have had them, but i have realised that all these meds are addictive , and i had to decide on my own to cut down, i was on 80mg of oxycontin, now its 40mg. i still look for pain releif but nothing helps :cry: all we can do is be aware of the triggers and try to avoid them, i wish you luck in your quest.