Category: Back Pain | Author: Stefano Sinicropi
Spinal facet joint pain is an all too common health issue, especially for Americans over the age of 50. Your facet joints are the connection between bones in the spine, and key spinal nerves pass through these joints as they traverse through your extremities. If these joints break down or inflame, they can irritate these nerves or other nearby tissues, leading to a condition called facet joint syndrome.
While you’ll want to be a little protective of these joints during the initial stages of recovery, prolonged inactivity isn’t good for your joint health either. We want you to gradually return to activity and greater physical pursuits, but there are some activities you may want to avoid as it could trigger a setback in your quest to overcome facet joint pain. In today’s blog, we discuss some activities you’ll want to avoid if you’re dealing with facet joint pain.
Activities To Avoid With Facet Joint Pain
If you’re working to overcome spinal facet joint pain, consider avoiding these activities or at least have a conversation with your orthopedic specialist about the best ways to pursue these activities without greatly increasing your risk of a setback. Here are some activities to approach with caution:
- Running – Running is a great form of exercise, but it’s also a pretty high impact activity that puts a lot of stress on your joints, including the facet joints in your spine. Walking or using an elliptical can help you remain active without putting as much strain on your spine.
- Heavy Lifting – Whether you’re in the gym or simply moving boxes in the garage, you’ll want to avoid heavy solo lifts. Again, this type of activity can channel a lot of stress down the spinal column, triggering an inflammatory response within the facet joints and leading to more localized symptoms. Lighter lifts with proper form can help you avoid agitating your facet joints.
- Excessive Twisting And Bending – Any activity that involves significant or excessive twisting or bending can be hard on your spinal facet joints. We’re not saying you should avoid all activities that test your range of motion, because an activity like yoga can actually be helpful for restoring strength and function in your spine, but be wary of maneuvers that really twist or bend your spine. Start with simple movements and begin to expand your range of flexibility as the action becomes more comfortable.
- Inactivity – As we mentioned in the introduction, inactivity can also be harmful to your spine health. Inactivity leads to muscle atrophy and an overall weakening of the spine and the areas that support it. This can lead to more stress being channeled onto your facet joints, in turn leading to more inflammation and discomfort. Find no impact or low impact activities that get your blood pumping and aren’t hard on your spine.
- Sit-ups, Crunches and Medicine Ball Twists – These exercises would fall under the excessive twisting and bending category, but because they can be common exercises used during a gym routine, we wanted to point them out specifically. These exercises really channel stress all across your spine, and there are much better ways to improve your core if you’re dealing with facet joint pain. Stay away from exercises that require excessive motion of the spine.
If you avoid these activities but stay active by pursuing low impact or no impact activities like walking, swimming and cycling, we’re confident you can calm symptoms of facet joint pain in the short and long term. And of course, if you want personalized help overcoming a back issue that you’re dealing with, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi and the team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Institute today at (651) 430-3800.
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