Facet Syndrome

Painful difficulty in moving one or more facet joints, the small joints at the back of the vertebrae. This occurs either from arthritis or muscle spasm. These are the small joints at the top and bottom, and to the right and left of each vertebra, that interface with the same joints in the vertebrae above and below. When they swell in arthritis, they narrow the central spinal canal, and are an element in central spinal stenosis.