Page 3 - facet pain
P. 3
Vertebral facets are where the posterior part of a
vertebra from your spine meets the one below it.
Think of them like stability and support structures.
Most of the weight is carried on the vertebrae by
the part known as the body. The body is located in
the front part of the bone. Additional stability is
provided by the facets which are where the
vertebrae make contact in the back of the bone.
(See the figure below).
Henry Gray(1918)Anatomy of the Human Body(See "Book" section below) Bartleby.com: Gray's Anatomy, Plate 82
If you look at the picture of the vertebrae above,
you will notice that the body of the vertebrae is a
much larger part of the bone than the facets (listed
in the picture as the “superior articular process”).
As stated previously, this is because the vertebral
