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What is facet hypertrophy?
Background/Anatomy The spine has 23 total pairs (46) of facet joints located at the back or rear portion of the spinal column. These are special gliding joints that are made… by a flat projection (zygapophyseal process or projection) that comes from one spinal bone and meets or contacts to another flat projection that makes up a facet joint. Each facet joint is covered in a thick layer of ligaments to support and hold the facet joint together. Hypertrophy is a medical term that means that something (muscle, liver tissue, ligament) is larger or greater than it was originally. In this case, the term usually suggests that the facet joint is larger or greater than normal due to increased size of the bony projection and the ligaments that are all part of the facet structure. This change of facet hypertrophy usually occurs as one of the first signs of spinal osteoarthritis. Arthritis causes the body to deposit new bone to these joints in an attempt to make these joints stronger and not break down. Interpretation Basically, your spinal joints have worn out a little bit. Facets are the rear part of your spine, where the joints meet. Hypertrophy means growth. Basically, arthritis in the spine. Other language Facet hypertrophy may be described as bilteral (occurring on both sides), left, or right. It may be described as cervical, thoracic, or lumbar (in the upper, middle, or lower spine), by the two bones that form the joint (such as L3/L4 to note that it's the facet joint between the 3rd and 4th lumbar vertebrae), or multilevel. The hypertrophy may be described by severity, such as mild, moderate, pronounced, advanced, minimal, etc. (MORE)