Facet Joint Injection

If your facet joints are causing you pain you may benefit from an injection of Cortisone into your facet joint/s.

Facet pain is usually at one level on one side and patients can often put their finger on it. Facet pain can often be treated with injection therapy. The injection that Dr Moloney uses is of local anaesthetic and Cortisone.

An injection of local anaesthetic and Cortisone into a facet can sometimes be beneficial in confirming the site of pain and decreasing inflammation and pain.

Sometimes only the local anaesthetic works and the Cortisone proves to be ineffective in reducing the inflammation so the pain recurs. If the local anaesthetic does give some transient relief (sometimes only a couple of hours) at least it can confirm where the pain is coming from.

The injection is performed under image intensification which means that Dr Moloney uses x-ray to confirm good placement of the needle.

The procedure is performed as a day only in the private hospital with an Anaesthetist. The Anaesthetist will administer a twilight sedation before Dr Moloney does the injection. As this is performed as a day procedure you will need somebody to drive you to and from the hospital. Usually you will go in early in the morning and leave mid afternoon once you have been monitored for a period of time.

Facet joint injections can also be used to diagnose where your pain is coming from on the path to other treatment. If you get some relief initially and the pain comes back that can mean that the joint where the injection was put is where your pain is coming from. Dr Moloney then has more information when discussing other options with you.