In the days following facet joint injections, it's important to keep moving after the injection. This will help increase blood flow and reduce stiffness. Walking is a great way to start. You should also avoid lifting heavy objects for at least 24 hours after the procedure.
As with most procedures, there is a remote risk of bleeding, infection, nerve injury, or allergic reaction to the medications used. Other short-term side effects may occur. If the local anesthetic extends to nearby nerves, you may feel weakness or numbness that can last for several hours. If this happens, you may need to stay in the Pain Management Center until it is resolved.
You may feel increased pain for a few days after the injections, including localized pain at the site of the injection. Soon after the injection, you may notice that the pain may go away or decrease significantly. This is due to the effect of the local anesthetic and lasts only a few hours. The pain may return and you may feel some pain at the injection site for about a day.
You should start to notice pain relief about 1 to 2 days after the procedure. You're more likely to notice faster relief if the joints where the injection was given were the main source of pain. Very small needles are placed inside the joint capsule and a small volume (usually about 1 ml) is placed in each joint. Facet joint blocks are usually ordered for patients who have pain mainly in the back as a result of arthritic changes in facet joints or for patients who have mechanical low back pain.
A lumbar facet joint block is an injection of local anesthetic (numbing medication) into one or more of the small joints located along each vertebra, on both sides of the spine, in the lower back. Before a facet joint injection, you may be given a diagnostic injection called a medial branch block near a nerve that comes out of the facet joint. If the injection into the facet joint is successful, you should expect to experience pain relief for several months.
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