Before you decide to have facet disease surgery, you are encouraged to explore all of your treatment options, including both conservative and surgical techniques. As part of this process, you should learn about the advantages and disadvantages of each treatment. You may be surprised to find that you can benefit from a nonsurgical approach that ultimately takes surgery off the table. However, regardless of the type of therapy you choose, you will be better prepared if you are well informed. This is also the best way to ensure that you will find the effective relief you need.

Facet disease treatments

When learning about facet disease surgery and other treatments, one of the first things to consider is the nature of your condition. Facet disease affects your spinal facet joints, which provide essential stability and support to your spine. Due to ongoing wear and tear, these hard-working joints can gradually break down as their smooth cartilage lining slowly wears away. As the condition progresses, symptoms like neck or back pain can occur and require treatment.

Next, think about the goals of each treatment option. Because cartilage cannot be “regrown,” facet disease treatment is usually focused on symptom management. Toward that end, many people are initially advised to try conservative approaches, which are designed to help manage pain and inflammation. In some cases, this can be accomplished nonsurgically with physical therapy, low-impact exercise, over-the-counter pain relievers and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Facet disease surgery

While nonsurgical approaches can be effective, it’s important to keep in mind that they cannot address the underlying degeneration — only facet disease surgery can do that. Instead of temporarily alleviating discomfort, a surgeon can permanently desensitize an inflamed nerve root in a degenerated facet joint. As a result, the nerve root will no longer send pain signals.

If you’ve tried conservative treatment and have decided to proceed with facet disease surgery, you may still have options. For instance, the surgeons at USA Spine Care perform minimally invasive spine procedures that are safer and effective alternatives to traditional open spine surgery.^

You may be a candidate for minimally invasive outpatient surgery at USA Spine Care. Contact us, and we’ll help you select the right option.

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