Revolutionary Ultrasound-Guided Facet Injections Transform Back Pain Treatment in Queens
When chronic back and neck pain disrupts your daily life, finding effective relief becomes a top priority. Ultrasound-guided facet injections represent a breakthrough in pain management, offering a safer alternative to traditional fluoroscopy-guided procedures by eliminating the risk of ionizing radiation for both patients and practitioners while providing reliable, accessible treatment. For residents of Queens and throughout New York City, this precision approach to back pain relief is revolutionizing how we treat facet joint syndrome and related spinal conditions.
Understanding Facet Joint Pain and Its Impact
Facet joint injections target the small joints at each segment of the spine that provide stability and help guide motion. The degeneration of lumbar zygapophyseal joints can be responsible for low back pain, and intra-articular corticosteroid injections are used when lumbar facet syndrome is disabling and resistant to well-conducted medical treatment. These conditions significantly impact quality of life, making even simple daily activities challenging.
Chronic pain significantly impacts daily life, making it challenging to find effective relief, with every patient’s experience with pain being unique. Common symptoms include localized back or neck pain, stiffness, and discomfort that worsens with movement or prolonged sitting.
The Precision of Ultrasound Guidance
Ultrasound guidance for facet joint interventions demonstrates favorable accuracy rates of 78-100% for cervical procedures and 86-100% for lumbar facet joint intra-articular injections, with lower procedural time compared to fluoroscopy or CT guidance and comparable pain relief. This advanced imaging technology allows physicians to visualize the target area in real-time, ensuring precise needle placement and optimal medication delivery.
Since the procedure is considered low-risk, ultrasound guidance is an attractive alternative to fluoroscopy because it renders no ionizing radiation to patients and medical personnel while helping identify soft tissue targets. Additionally, ultrasound-guided procedures are essentially office-based and do not require a radiology suite or operating room.
The Treatment Process and Benefits
A cervical (neck), thoracic (upper back), or lumbar (lower back) facet joint injection involves injecting a steroid (anti-inflammatory) medication, which can anesthetize (numb) the facet joints and block the pain. Facet joint injections involve injecting local anesthetics and steroid medication into and around a facet joint, with the local anesthetic making the procedure less painful and numbing the nerves for pain relief while the steroid helps reduce inflammation for longer-lasting relief.
The procedure typically takes 20-30 minutes and offers several key advantages:
- Minimally invasive with no surgery required, performed in an outpatient setting
- Significantly reduced pain after one month with no difference found between ultrasound and fluoroscopy techniques
- Beneficial effects of steroids usually require 2-3 days to be effective, and in some cases may take as long as 5-7 days
- Immediate diagnostic value to confirm pain source
NY Spine Medicine: Leading the Way in Queens
NY Spine Medicine offers the highest level of pain management in NYC, helping patients overcome chronic pain with world-class, non-surgical treatments. The core belief of their practice is that surgery should be a last resort for treatment of pain, exhausting all possible medical options to help patients recover as safely and painlessly as possible through a holistic approach that encompasses minimally invasive procedures to relieve pain, promote healing, and prevent future injury.
Dr. Douglas Schottenstein, president of NY Spine Medicine, is one of only 200 physicians in the nation who is double-board certified in neurology and pain management. At NY Spine Medicine, they are dedicated to the treatment of pain and spine conditions and utilize the most advanced technology and treatment options available in a brand new, state-of-the-art facility.
For patients seeking facet block injections Queens residents can trust NY Spine Medicine’s commitment to excellence. The practice has extensive experience in administering facet block injections to help patients in Queens find relief and get back to doing the things they love.
Patient-Centered Care and Recovery
NY Spine Medicine follows a four-part plan ensuring comprehensive evaluation and effective treatment, starting with expert evaluation and advanced diagnostics to pinpoint the source of pain, followed by focused interventional treatments that provide immediate relief with minimal recovery time, and in-house physical therapy and rehabilitation programs to help maintain long-term relief.
Studies show that ultrasound-guided injections of corticosteroids into lumbar facet joints significantly reduce pain after one month, with many patients experiencing substantial improvement in their daily functioning. Research demonstrates that patients who underwent successful ultrasound-guided blocks saw their mean visual analogue pain score improve from 6.2 ± 0.9 before the block to 4.0 ± 1.0 after the procedure.
Safety and Effectiveness
There were no injection-related complications in either group during follow-up studies, demonstrating the excellent safety profile of ultrasound-guided facet injections. Although side effects from this procedure are rare, possible side effects include facial flushing, occasional low-grade fevers, hiccups, insomnia, headaches, water retention, increased appetite, increased heart rate, and abdominal cramping or bloating, occurring in less than 5% of patients and usually disappearing within 1-3 days after injection.
Patients experience significant relief from pain with minimal recovery time, with relatively inexpensive, cutting-edge procedures that are likely covered by insurance, making advanced pain management accessible to all.
Taking the Next Step
If you’re struggling with chronic back or neck pain and conservative treatments haven’t provided adequate relief, ultrasound-guided facet injections may be the solution you’ve been seeking. Candidates for this procedure include patients who have not found relief with conservative treatments such as physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medications, or chiropractic care, and experience pain suspected to originate from facet joint dysfunction.
Feel empowered with treatment plans created just for you by booking a visit with NY Spine Medicine and starting your journey to a life without limits. With their state-of-the-art facility, expert medical team, and commitment to patient-centered care, NY Spine Medicine represents the future of pain management in Queens and throughout the New York metropolitan area.
Don’t let chronic pain control your life any longer. Contact NY Spine Medicine today to learn more about how ultrasound-guided facet injections can help you reclaim your mobility, comfort, and quality of life.