Health Education

Lower back pain is not an uncommon disease with a majority of problems excluding the so-called nerve problems: some are muscular ache while others are joint pain of the spine, known as “Facet Joint Syndrome.”

“Facet Joint Syndrome” refers to the osteoarthritis when the lower back joints on the upper and lower spine gradually wear away. The pain could appear on the neck or lower back, sometimes transferred to the hand and shoulder of the upper body or the hip and thigh of the lower back, and even beneath the knees. The syndromes then are similar to “sciatica.”

“Facet Joint Syndrome” can also be caused by excessive stress on the spines due to acute injury to the spines such as collision or moving heavy objects, or sitting upright for a long time.

Most of the time, the syndrome is self-limited; or patients will recovery from the syndrome at the first onset by taking anti-inflammatory painkiller in the short run. However sometimes the syndrome is long-term, continuous and repeated, which will require further therapy. Then, the pain physician will adopt “diagnostic nerve block” or another more aggressive “radiofrequency coagulation.”

“Radiofrequency coagulation” is a minimally invasive technology that applies the temperature produced from radiofrequency current to burn and destroy the nerve innervating the joints. Such technology may not be of new concept but has been widely deployed in recent years because of the progress in temperature control and discharge intensity. Moreover the more precise injection technology makes the effect of such pain relief treatment more significant. The short-term therapy period, small destruction without the need for hospitalization offers an alternative effective therapy for such common back pain.