Facet Joint Injections - Anyone had success?

Hi I have been getting facet joint injections for about 3 years now but mine are in my neck. For me these injections work really well giving me pain relief for 8-9 months. My first injections lasted about 4 months, the second injections lasted 6 months and now they are up to nine months. They are a game changer for me allowing me to have a good quality of life.

Sorry sent before I was done. My pain doc said that I was lucky that they have worked so well for me as that is not always the case which I can see from the comments. I am sorry that yours have not worked good and hope that you find a solution that helps give you relief from your pain. I know it sucks to be in pain all the time.

Do you know what the use in the injection? I asked my Pain Dr about them and he said they only used lidocaine and they used it diagnostically. He said because of that they wouldn't last. I'm wondering if your doctor uses Cortizone.

Hi @jenapower yes my injections are a steroid type but I am not sure the name of the drug. My doc is also an anesthesiologist and pain management doctor. When I had the first injections he said that if I get relief from them we will know that it is the facet joints that are causing my pain and I did get total relief. Since I only need to get the injections approximately once a year my doc said that it would be okay to continue with them if that is what I wanted to do. I don't know if the Radio Frequency Ablation would give me much more relief time than what I get from the injections.

I went through a series of epidural shots and facet injections many years ago for my cervical spine and nerve compression. Fortunately, I was insured. I continued to receive the shots despite receiving no benefit or relief since the doctor insisted that it would take a while for the injections to work. The last facet shot was extremely painful, more so than the other shots, and left me with a pain in my neck which has never gone away. I decided that, for me, the shots were not beneficial, just costly and time-consuming. After running into other patients who went through the same thing, it seemed as though only the doctor's bank account was benefitting from this treatment.

I have had 2 shots also and found no relief either so not doing them anymore what's the point

Have had at least 20 over many years. Never helped one single bit. Nobody I've ever talked to have they helped. In my opinion, it's a money maker for doctors; they don't make much on just office call versus $1,000 for injection, that's why they push for injections.

I just had 6 today. C3-c7. We will see. They were very painful. I don't know if I was rushed. Or not numb. They didn't observe me after either. I got off the bed at 956 and was out the door by 10 12. I have a pain tolerance but it was very bad....was this your experience

I just had the same thing c3-7 yesterday could you tell me if yours were extremely PAINFUL? I think the Dr didn't let me get NUMB? But I think it has helped

Hi @traclynne I am sorry that your injections were painful. I have never had any problems with pain on injection, I get them in the same location as yours on my right side. The only time I had an issue was when I started to come out of the sedation at the last two and they hurt like heck! I made sure my doctor knew and have not had any issues again. I know that a lot of people say they do not get any relief from injections but for me they work extremely well and relieve my pain for a good 8 months. I hope that you will find the relief you are looking for.