Targeted regenerative therapy designed to reduce facet joint inflammation, support cartilage healing, and address the underlying disc degeneration driving increased joint loading.
Spinal arthritis, or facet arthropathy, develops when the small joints at the back of the spine (the facet joints) undergo osteoarthritic changes. As the joint cartilage degenerates, bone spurs form, the joint capsule thickens, and synovial inflammation increases. This process typically follows or accompanies degenerative disc disease: as the disc loses height and integrity, abnormal load transfers to the facet joints, accelerating their arthritic degeneration.
Facet arthropathy creates pain through multiple mechanisms: direct joint inflammation, capsular stretching from bone spur formation, foraminal narrowing as osteophytes encroach on nerve root space, and referred pain from the joint's rich nerve supply. The pain is often worse with extension (leaning backward) and twisting, because these movements compress the arthritic joint.
Conventional treatments address symptoms temporarily: anti-inflammatory medications reduce pain but suppress healing, physical therapy improves stability but cannot reverse joint degeneration, and nerve blocks provide temporary relief. Spinal fusion eliminates motion but does not treat the joint; it simply locks the painful segment. Regenerative medicine approaches arthritis differently, targeting the joint itself to reduce inflammation and support healing.
Regenerative medicine offers a fundamentally different strategy: instead of blocking pain or burning nerves, we treat the joint itself.
Intra-articular regenerative therapy delivers concentrated growth factors directly into the facet joint, with the goal of stimulating chondrocyte activity and extracellular matrix production, supporting healing of the joint capsule, and modulating the synovial inflammation driving pain. In my experience, many patients with mild to moderate facet arthropathy respond favorably to a targeted series of regenerative treatments.
For more advanced arthropathy with significant cartilage loss, more potent regenerative approaches may provide mesenchymal stem cells with the potential to differentiate along the chondrocyte lineage, with the goal of supporting the regenerative environment within the joint, promoting cartilage stability, and slowing the progressive bone remodeling that drives osteophyte formation.
Critically, I also address the disc degeneration that is driving increased facet loading. Treating the facet joint in isolation, while ignoring the degenerating disc that is overloading it, is like replacing brake pads while ignoring a bent axle. The comprehensive approach - addressing both the disc and the facet joint, stabilizing the ligamentous structures with regenerative treatment - produces more durable results because it addresses the entire degenerative segment.
Evaluation includes diagnostic medial branch blocks to confirm facet involvement, followed by MRI review to characterize the severity of arthropathy and any associated disc or ligamentous pathology. Treatment is delivered under fluoroscopic or ultrasound guidance for precise intra-articular placement.
We track both pain levels and functional outcomes - ability to stand, walk, and perform extension activities without flaring.
Facet arthropathy can be effectively treated with regenerative medicine. Let's evaluate your specific condition and discuss whether this approach is right for you.