Facet disease, the arthritic deterioration of the joints that allow the vertebrae to join together and move, is often asymptomatic. Facet disease can manifest itself in a variety of ways. Most notably, this condition can produce symptoms such as neck or back pain as well as tingling, numbness, stiffness or muscle weakness. If you are experiencing these symptoms, it is important to learn about your alternative treatment options.

This course of action typically would follow an unsuccessful regimen of mainstream conservative treatments, such as pain medication, physical therapy or behavior modification. Alternative treatment options include mind-body intervention, manipulative and body-based methods, energy therapies and biologically based therapies. Read on to learn more about the treatments available to relieve facet disease symptoms.

What are biologically based facet disease therapies?

When you seek relief from symptoms associated with facet disease, your choice of alternative treatments depends primarily on personal preference. Because most of the alternative treatments available lack scientific support for their efficacy, it’s important to talk to your doctor about your options.

One of those options, which are biologically based therapies, relies on diet therapy, herbal medicine, orthomolecular (nutrient-based) medicine and chelation therapy (removal of certain heavy metals from the body). Biologically based therapies include:

• Herbal supplements. These are a type of dietary supplements and are also referred to by the shorthand botanicals. They are plant-based supplements and are often taken in the form of pills or dissolved in water. Some plant-based supplements are believed to have calming effects, although it is advised against to overuse these certain types of plants.
• Homeopathy. This is defined as a safe, gentle and natural alternative medical system that seeks to stimulate the body’s ability to heal itself by giving it very small doses of highly diluted substances.
• Pain patches. Prescription-strength (Flector or fentanyl) or over-the-counter medicine (camphor, menthol or a pain-medication balm) is absorbed through the skin from the interior of an adhesive patch.

When more is needed to relieve symptoms of facet disease

If your symptoms worsen or alternative treatments prove ineffective after several weeks or months, contact USA Spine Care to learn how one of our outpatient procedures can help you find relief from neck and back pain. USA Spine Care is the leader in minimally invasive spine surgery and provides safer and effective alternatives to traditional open neck or back surgery.^

If you are a candidate for our facet disease surgery, an option for lasting relief is that our board-certified surgeons+ are able to replace the painful lining of the facet in order to alleviate the pain with minimal surgical intervention. These procedures are performed in outpatient centers using small incisions that are muscle-sparing, which eliminates hospital-associated costs to help patients get back to their lives faster.^

Since 2005, our outpatient procedures have helped more than 75,000 patients find relief from chronic neck or back conditions. Reach out to USA Spine Care today so we can help you on your journey to wellness. Ask for a no-cost MRI review* to learn if our outpatient procedures would be effective in relieving your facet disease symptoms.

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