Which is the best doctor for facet syndrome? There are many options when it comes to seeking diagnosis and treatment, so it is important to choose wisely for optimal results. We understand that finding the ideal doctor can be a challenge unto itself. Complicating matters is the ever-increasing variety of care providers who focus on treating facet syndrome, as well as general back or neck pain conditions.
We pride ourselves on providing an objective view on this subject, having editorial board members who span the traditional and complementary medical industries. Since many readers write to us seeking guidance on the best type of doctor for treating facet joint pain syndromes, we have taken this opportunity to prepare a detailed answer to assist our audience in making informed, quality choices.
This dialog explores the pros and cons of various types of care providers when it comes to diagnosing and treating facet joint pain conditions. We will detail medical and complementary medical care specialties that tend to focus on facet joint conditions, as well as provide a few interesting alternatives for patients who have not enjoyed treatment success on the path more often traveled.
Best Doctor for Facet Syndrome – MD and DO
MDs and DOs come in many specialties, ranging from general practitioners to neurologists to orthopedists to physical therapists and sports medicine physicians. If you decide to pursue traditional medical care, then which is the best type of doctor to consult for facet joint pain?
For many back pain problems, we recommend seeing a spinal neurologist. However, in cases of suspected facet joint pain, neurologists are better at ruling out the diagnosis of facet joint pain than for confirming it. Their main usefulness in facet syndrome patients is suspecting that symptoms are far too wide-ranging or located in the wrong areas to possibly be created by the facet joints.
Orthopedists are musculoskeletal specialists who get our recommendation as the ideal type of doctor for facet joint pain diagnosis and treatment. These physicians are perfectly suited to identifying all the causative and contributory processes to facet joint pain and should provide the best hope for accurate identification of the symptomatic origin and subsequent therapeutic success.
Physical therapists and sports medicine physicians are our second choices, since these doctors are experts in mechanical pain conditions in the human spine and also tend to utilize conservative methods of care that are constructive and safe compared to pharmaceutical and surgical interventions which are commonly employed by the orthopedic specialty.
Best Doctor for Facet Joint Pain – DC
Chiropractors provide a different diagnostic and treatment path for patients to pursue in their quest for facet joint relief. Chiropractors will not use drug therapies, surgery or injections, making them ideal for patients who want to utilize purely natural and constructive diagnostic protocols and treatment regimens.
Chiropractors are certainly spinal specialists and can provide symptomatic reduction for some facet joint-related pain syndromes using a variety of vertebral adjustments. However, where chiropractors really shine when it comes to treating facet joint pain is through the use of nonsurgical spinal decompression technologies, such as Cox Technique or the machine-assisted DRX-9000, Vax-D, AccuSpina, Hill DT or Antalgic Trak devices. Although not specifically meant to treat facet joint pain, statistics for curative interventions using spinal decompression are very promising and can provide these benefits without the risk of more traditional forms of medical care which involve injections and surgery.
Best Doctor for Facet Syndrome – Alternatives
There are other options for pursuing facet joint pain treatment, as well. The first path includes utilizing the services of different types of complementary caregivers to find symptomatic respite. These healers include acupuncturists, Doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda practitioners, massage therapists and other options. The downside to retaining these service providers is that their efficacy is limited to symptomatic relief, if any at all. Curative care is impossible, since none of these modalities will address the underlying structural issues responsible for creating pain.
There is another type of doctor that we recommend to many patients with chronic and unresponsive pain. These care providers are mindbody medicine specialists who focus on identifying and resolving conditions that are motivated by the subconscious mind, rather than by incidental structural abnormality or degeneration. It is a proven fact that all chronic pain has a mindbody component and a significant percentage is actually completely caused by the psychogenic processes, although it is commonly blamed on innocent and coincidental anatomical irregularities, such as facet deterioration.
If you suspect mindbody involvement in your pain due to repressed emotional issues, chronic stress or personality type, or simply have not found relief using traditional medical and/or complementary methods of care, you might want to renew your efforts by concentrating on mindbody therapies which have cured literally millions of people worldwide. The best part of this path is that finding an actual specialist is not always necessary. In fact, most patients are able to achieve full cures using self-managed modalities of care, such as that offered by quality knowledge therapy materials.
Facet Joint Pain > Facet Syndrome Diagnosis > Best Doctor for Facet Syndrome
