Facet joint disorders are most common of all of the disabling pain of the lower back and in the neck area. If not treated properly, there could be a chance of disability and serious symptoms down the road. Don’t confuse back conditions with the problems of the facet joints, they are different. When the cervical facet joint is inflamed,  it closely resembles the symptoms of a herniated disc or a torn spine muscle. So when you experience these symptoms, explain to your doctor the exact location of the pain and the frequency, this helps him make a correct diagnosis.

If there are problems in the abdomen they may also be similar to the lumbar facet joint and the problems with the neck can actually create the cervical facet disorder. So it is twice as important for a good diagnosis. The treatments are different so again, tell the doctor everything! A correct diagnosis must be determined to treat the symptoms properly.

Symptoms of facet joint pain may include but are not limited to the following. The pain will be intermittent and unpredictable and can happen maybe every month or every other week. There may be a point of tenderness in the inflamed facet joint and there will also be a loss of flexibility in the spinal muscle called guarding. There will be a lot of discomfort when you learn backwards slightly rather than forwards. Low back pain stemming from the buttocks and down the back of the upper leg. The pain is hardly ever in the front of the leg but always in the back.

The cervical facet joint pain may begin in the shoulders or the upper part of the back, the pain stays pretty isolated and hardly ever travels down the arms or into the fingers. With Herniated discs, the pain can radiate into the arms and this is one distinction between facet joint pain and a herniated disc. The pain may be recurrent but not chronic. 

For additional information and resources on Chronic Pain, visit PainsWeb.com. The author Sam Carson is a chronic pain patient and publisher of PainsWeb.com. His website specializes in conveying targeted information about all types of Chronic Pain and helps you find associated information, patient resources and forums etc to manage your pain. Authors can submit quality original articles to PainsWeb.com and get a back link to their site.