Facet Joint Injection in Jordan

A facet joint injection is an interventional procedure that places local anaesthetic, sometimes with an anti-inflammatory medicine of the corticosteroid class, either inside the small joints between the vertebrae, known as facet joints, or around the tiny nerves that supply them, known as medial branches. It is carried out under X-ray or ultrasound guidance and serves both diagnostic and pain-relieving purposes. These joints are a common source of mechanical back or neck pain: localised pain that worsens on prolonged standing, arching backwards and twisting, that may spread to the buttock or back of the thigh without travelling down to the foot, and that eases on bending forward or sitting. No scan can prove on its own that the joint is the source, because degenerative facet changes are common in people with no symptoms at all. This is why the injection has an important diagnostic role: temporary relief after a targeted anaesthetic injection makes that joint the likely source and opens the option of radiofrequency treatment of the medial branch for longer-lasting effect. The limits must be stated clearly. It does not treat a herniated disc or radicular pain running down to the foot, it does not widen a narrowed spinal canal, it does not repair spondylolisthesis or instability, and it does not remove existing arthritis in the joint. Its effect is usually temporary and variable, and it should not be repeated without documented benefit. Most importantly, it enables rehabilitation rather than substituting for it: trunk strengthening, correction of posture and loading patterns, improved hip mobility and weight management are what protect the joint long term, and the injection is a window in which to begin them. Candidacy is decided by clinical examination and by matching the pain pattern to the suspected level, while excluding conditions that need urgent assessment such as progressive weakness or serious nerve compression symptoms.