Facet Arthropathy Treatment And Preventive Measures

Given the fact about the present generation, there are lots of diseases and health issues those are hitting the states and countries sooner or later. Some of those could be easy to detect and others could be somewhat tough and hard, while there could be some brand new diseases that would kill people before anyone could figure out what the disease is all about. But luckily our scientists and doctors had been working day in and day out to provide treatment for each and every known health issue and disease. One of the similar issues which is causing a lot of havoc is Facet Arthropathy.

The facets are the reason why your backbone is flexible. If not for the facet joints, could you imagine that a man who can't bend or twist. When the facet joints are healthy, they have a lot of cartilage that could help in moving, bending, or twisting easily without grinding your bones. But as your body gets old so does the cartilage of the joints causing the joints to wear down which is the reason mostly old age people always have pain in their backbone, and find it difficult to bend or move freely. This wear and tear of the facet joints of your body could cause many issues. Arthritis of the joints is also a chance to occur over time, just the same as any other joint. This could be referred to as Facet Arthropathy.

The treatment of facet arthropathy is not simple and could take a lot out of the patient suffering from the same. Most basic of the treatment focuses on relieving the patient of the pain and stiffness, all the way trying to keep the person as active as possible. The various other treatment methods could be non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), physical therapy, radiofrequency ablation, anesthetic injections, as well as spine surgery. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs might include Ibuprofen, Aspirin, and Naproxen which could be helpful to reduce pain also could be useful to counter the inflammation. But these medications should never be used without doctor's guidance. Physical therapy could be used to comfort the patient temporarily and could also be helpful in the long run. This includes gaining strength with help of special exercises. Radiofrequency ablation uses radio frequency waves to shut off the nerve in the affected spot which in turn stops the nerve from sending pain signals to the brain. Anesthetic injections is the treatment where doctors often uses injections and injects pain relievers directly into the spine which gives relief to the patient. Spine surgery also known as spinal fusion are used to fuse the affected spinal bones together into one bone. This can relieve the patient of the pain by stopping the damaged facet joints from moving at all. Some people often think when is the time for the treatment due. Let me assure you that this health issue could be a life changer and not in a positive way. There would be times when you couldn't even bend enough to tie your show laces or move enough to dance with your daughter/son in their wedding. Even though there is no permanent solution to this disease, it’s always recommend to start the treatment as soon as you start to notice the symptoms and are sure that you are going through facet arthropathy. Some of the symptoms that could suggest facet arthropathy are, regular pain in the neck or back which suddenly increases to a great extent whenever you try to bend or lean backward, back pain that shoots right up as soon as you try to twist or move your body after staying still for some time, or the stiffness or inability to move parts of back or neck. Even though the same symptoms could be seen for a regular neck pain, disk relocation or sprain, its no harm in getting it checked soon and start the treatment as soon as possible just so as not to make the situation worse than it already is.

Only if you are completely sure about the disease and the doctor is positive that it's not any other issue and it is facet arthropathy itself, only then should one opt for the treatment because wrong treatment for a wrong disease could be devastating for both the patient's life as well as doctor's career. To be very sure that you are suffering from facet arthropathy and not anything else, doctors are required to do a diagnosis using imaging tests which uses images of the spine and bones to identify the problem. Some of the popular methods of diagnosing this are X-ray, bone scan, CT scan, or MRI. The results of these tests could reveal which joints are damaged. Unfortunately, once the facet joints are worn out there is no way it can be healed or improved. However, there are chances that could help with the relief even though not permanent but temporary. There are many options available for a patient to help him/her manage the pain caused by facet arthropathy, some options include medications as well as physical therapy. The other option is working with a personal healthcare professional and follow treatment regularly thus increasing the chances of leading a better and active life.

The price of the treatment ranges from Rs. 500- Rs. 20, 000 for consulting the doctors. The physiotherapy could cost a lot of money if personal therapist is appointed and the charges could shoot up to a lakh depending on the professional level and intelligence of the therapist. If the patient wants to go for regular medications appoint nurses and doctors personally it could cost as high as 30 Lakhs, but if the patient wants to spend his/her life in hospital the cost could decrease by 10-20 lakhs given the quality of the hospital.

The cost of the treatment is pretty high as well as there is a guarantee that you can't be the same again so why to face the disease at all? The result of the treatment if temporary and relieves you of the pain for only as long as you are in the effect of medication which could be heart-breaking. The alternative to the treatment of facet arthropathy is the prevention of the same. It's always suggested by the doctors and professionals to be on a safe side after the first pain begins.

There are many preventive measures that could be used for the same. Old age people are requested to maintain a proper body weight and try not to be too obese or too underweight. The most popular suggestion is always to exercise regularly and not give in to laziness. Also old age people should be very conscious about their injuries. People should maintain good posture, bad posture is one of the basic reason for the widespread of the disease. Smoking habits should be quit as soon as possible so that the cells in the body could be in good health to fight the disease with full efficiency. Healthy diet should be properly maintained and try not to eat a lot of fast food, eating supplements like Vitamin C and Vitamin D could also be useful for the same.