Cervical Epidural Facet

Cervical facet joints are small joints located in pairs on the back of your neck. They provide stability and guide motion in your neck. If the joints become painful they may cause pain in your head, neck, shoulders, down between your shoulder blades or in your arms.
Facet joint injections can help relieve pain in several ways. After numbing medicine is injected into the joint, you will experience immediate pain relief that will help confirm or deny the joint as a source of your pain. Additionally, the temporary relief of the numbing medicine may better allow a chiropractor or physical therapist to treat that joint. The time released steroid will also help reduce any inflammation that you may have within your joints.

What should I expect from this procedure?

The injection is mildly uncomfortable and easily tolerated by almost all patients. Dr. MineHart will numb the area of injection for your comfort.

What happens after the procedure?

Complications are extremely rare but can occur. You may wish to discuss this with Dr. MineHart in more detail.
Some patients do well with 1-2 injections but others will require a series of 3-4 injections and if successful may need booster injections every 3-12 months, depending on your diagnosis and pain level.
The injection is mildly uncomfortable and easily tolerated by almost all patients. Dr. MineHart will numb the area of injection for your comfort.