Anyone know about osteoarthritis in the facet joints?

I have burning sensation in the middle of my back at the belt line. I was diagnosed with from the pain management doctor that read my mri. He said left side where I also have pain shows in the Mri that my facet joint is gone, worn out. I have pain all the time, especially from sitting and laying down, and I'm not overweight. (no offense to anyone) I'm 41and the PM doctor did say i have a 60 year old looking spine. He said I was too young to be having this problem already. Which resulted from a back injury on a previous job they said.

And yes this is a Workman's Comp case. I'm down to the last on my case. Settlement is in June with the ins company and my lawyer. I was told ins company is fighting this tooth and nail because they don't want to pay for an inevitable situation. I never had back problems before my injury on the job.

The facet joints are located in the back portion (posterior) of the spine. The joints combine with the disc space to create a three-joint complex at each vertebral level. The facet joint consists of two opposing bony surfaces with cartilage between them and a capsule around it that produces fluid. The combination of the cartilage and the fluid allows the joint to move with little friction. However, facet joint arthritis causes the cartilage to breakdown and the joint movement is associated with more friction. The patient loses motion and as they get stiffer they have more back pain.
Conservative treatments that concentrate on maintaining motion in the back are most effective for relieving the pain.

Stretching exercises for the hamstring muscles, hip joints, and the back can usually serve to prevent the pain from getting worse.
For more severe pain, chiropractic manipulations can help relieve pain.
Water therapy can be also be helpful since the joints are unweighted in the water and do not generate as much pain when being moved.
Acetaminophen is an effective and relatively safe non-prescription medication to help alleviate the pain, and some patients find NSAID's (including Cox-2 inhibitors) to be helpful.