Lumbar Facet Joint Pain

Low back pain or lumbar joint pain is also known as facet joint pain, z-joint or zygapophyseal joint pain or facet arthropathy. All of these terms refer to an injury in a lumbar spine joint.

Facet joints control the direction and degree of movement between the vertebrae and vary in their size and direction for each of the different segments of your spine. There are two facet joints (left and right) in each spinal segment (where two bones meet). Joint capsule surrounds the joint surfaces to provide stability to the joint and also produces the nourishing synovial fluid and provides a sealed environment to keep the fluid within the joint.

Injuries can occur to either the joint capsule or the cartilage surface of these joints, which can result in inflammation and pain. Common causes of injury are; repetitive overuse injuries (eg - painting the house), sustained postures (eg - prolonged sitting or poor sleep position) or once-off compressive or stretch forces (eg -a tennis serve or lunging to catch a falling object).

Facet joint pain is one of the most common causes of spinal pain and can be diagnosed with high quality Physiotherapy.

Almost all lumbar facet pain can be cleared with high-quality Physiotherapy treatment and management. It is very rare that this is not the case.

Melbourne Physio Clinic is the leading Physiotherapy clinic in the Melbourne CBD and have the credentials and study to ensure you receive the best care possible.