The facets are the small joints of bone that stick out from the main vertebral body. They're doing a block to see if that's where your pain is coming from, and a discogram to see if the disc is the origin of the pain. I think they're trying to decide what surgery would help you. If it's the facets, there's a nerve ablation they can do, if it's the disc, it's fusion, or ADR. The facet block is totally different from an epidural, though the areas are close to each other, they're seperated by a the epidural membrane. They shoot lidocaine and sometimes a steriod right into the little joints (there's two per vertebrae-one each side of spinal cord), and then see what happens to your pain over the next day. I don't think it'll be an installment plan on surgery unless they're both causing pain. Good luck, and keep us updated!!
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