Medication
One example of how treatment approaches may progress over time would be:
- Bed rest, or reduced activity, for the first 1 to 2 days after onset of severe pain, combined with anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen, and ice and/or heat therapy
- Prescription muscle relaxant medications, as needed, for up to 1 week
- Gentle stretching and aerobic exercise, for at least 3 times a week
Procedures
Natural Treatments For Degenerative Disc Disease
- Apply Hot Or Cold Packs For Pain Relief. Applying hot or cold packs can ease pain linked to degenerative disc disease. ...
- Correct Your Posture. Poor posture can stress your spinal discs and lead to joint compression and muscular fatigue. ...
- Lose Weight If You’re Overweight. ...
- Exercise. ...
- Practice Yoga. ...
- Consume Fish Oil. ...
- Have Boswellia. ...
- Drink Ginger Tea. ...
Therapy
These may include:
- Pain relievers like acetaminophen
- Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen
- Corticosteroid injection into the disc space
- Prescription pain medication
Self-care
You can not really reverse DDD but you can make lifestyle changes that can protect your spine and keep it from getting a lot worse. A few other lifestyle changes can have a powerful healing effect on your back pain: 1. If your work requires sitting for long periods of time, consider switching your office chair to a balance ball chair. 2.
Nutrition
See more
How to lessen pain from a degenerated disc?
How to cure degenerative disc disease naturally?
What is the best treatment for degenerative disc disease?
Can DDD be reversed?
What happens when a disc completely degenerates?
Over time, a degenerating disc may break down completely and leave no space between vertebrae, which can result in impaired movement, pain, and nerve damage.
Will degenerative discs disappear?
Unfortunately, DDD does not go away. Just like aging, once your discs begin to degenerate, you can't reverse the process. However, the pain caused by DDD can be treated. DDD pain may flare up for several days or a few weeks.
Can you repair disc degeneration?
Once a disc has degenerated, the degenerative process cannot be reversed. Instead of trying to rehabilitate the disc itself, treatment focuses on improving the health of surrounding structures, such as the spinal nerves, vertebral bones and joints, and supporting muscles and ligaments.
What can be done for spinal degeneration?
Physical therapy can help stretch and strengthen the right muscles to help the back heal and reduce the frequency of painful flare-ups. Lifestyle modifications, such as changing your posture, losing weight or giving up smoking, can sometimes help reduce stress on the damaged disc and slow down further degeneration.
Can spinal degeneration reversed?
While disc degeneration can't be reversed, there is evidence that exercise, lifestyle changes and careful management of your back pain can contribute to better quality of life.
Can you live a normal life with DDD?
Can you live a normal life with degenerative disc disease? The answer is yes, even it forces you to be out of work for an extended amount of time. Do not give up. There are many methods of pain relief that you can do at home that can help you live a normal life.
Can you regrow spinal discs?
“There have been several experiments combining chemical and mechanical factors to regenerate a replacement disc, but with limited success. Some growth happens, but the quality of the tissue, from a mechanical point of view, is far inferior to the mechanical needs of the human body.”
Can you become paralyzed from degenerative disc disease?
This can irritate the spinal cord or nearby nerves, causing weakness and numbness in the arms or legs. A severely herniated disc can cause paralysis. Disc herniation is most common in the lower back (lumbar spine) and neck (cervical spine).
What stage is severe degenerative disc disease?
Stage 4. The final stage of degenerative disc disease is the most severe and is typically considered irreversible. Discs are at their thinnest or gone altogether. The flexibility of the spine is extremely limited and pain is often considerable.
What is the long term prognosis for degenerative disc disease?
Long-term Outcomes of Degenerative Disc Disease The degenerative process of the spinal disc may start gradually or suddenly, but progresses over 2 to 3 decades from severe and at times even disabling bouts of pain to a state in which the spine is restabilized and the pain is diminished.
What is the best surgery for degenerative disc disease?
Discectomy. Discectomy is the most common surgical treatment for a herniated disc, which often occurs as a result of degenerative disc disease. It involves removing the injured part of the disc, relieving pressure on the affected nerve.
How can I prevent degenerative disc disease from getting worse?
Preventing Degenerative Disc DiseaseStop smoking, or better yet, don't start — smoking increases the rate of desiccation.Be active – regular exercise to increase the strength and flexibility of muscles that surround and support the spine.More items...
What is the best way to strengthen the spine?
Strengthening exercises that build lower back and abdominal muscles to maintain healthy postures and better support the spine. Strengthening exercise programs might include a customized physical therapy program, dynamic lumbar stabilization, tai chi, Pilates, or others.
What is the best treatment for sciatica?
Physical Therapy and Activity Modification. Physical therapy is often suggested or prescribed to help maintain healthy mobility in the spine. A thorough low back exercise program should include a combination of: Exercises for Sciatica from Degenerative Disc Disease Video.
How to help lower back pain?
Exercise and Physical Therapy 1 Stretching exercises for muscles in the low back, hips, and pelvis, as well as the hamstring muscles. Tightness in these muscles places more pressure on the lumbar spine and contributes to low back pain. 2 Strengthening exercises that build lower back and abdominal muscles to maintain healthy postures and better support the spine. Strengthening exercise programs might include a customized physical therapy program, dynamic lumbar stabilization, tai chi, Pilates, or others. 3 Low-impact aerobic exercise that elevates the heart rate to improve circulation and deliver nutrients and oxygen necessary for healing the body’s tissues. Examples of aerobics that are gentle on the spine include walking, swimming and water aerobics, stationary biking, and running on an elliptical.
What is the best pain reliever for nerve pain?
Aspirin (Bayer), ibuprofen (Advil), or naproxen (Aleve) are common pain medications that can relieve inflammation that contributes to discomfort, stiffness, and nerve root irritation. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is a pain reliever that interferes with pain signals sent to the brain.
How long does pain medication last?
These medications are commonly used to treat intense, acute pain that is not expected to last more than a few days or weeks. These medications can be addictive and cause serious side effects, so they must be used with caution and according to instructions provided by the prescribing doctor. Heat and ice.
What are some exercises to help lower back pain?
Tightness in these muscles places more pressure on the lumbar spine and contributes to low back pain. Strengthening exercises that build lower back and abdominal muscles to maintain healthy postures ...
How to prevent back pain from flaring up?
For example, wearing a back brace while lifting, or avoiding twisting while lifting, can prevent pain from flaring up due to overuse.
What is the best treatment for degenerative disc disease?
Typical pain medications used to treat the low back pain include acetaminophen, NSAIDs, oral steroids, narcotic drugs, and muscle relaxants. Each type of medication has strengths, limitations, and risks, and the patient's particular low back problem ...
How to help lower back pain from degenerative disc disease?
For those people, the main goals for managing lower back pain caused by degenerative disc disease are usually: Achieving enough pain relief to be able to engage in lower back pain exercises and a rehabilitation program. Preventing the application of excess stress on the disc through proper ergonomics and posture.
What causes back pain?
Pain from degenerative disc disease is caused by a combination of instability at the motion segment and inflammation from the degenerated discs. Both the instability and the inflammation have to be addressed for the back pain treatment to be effective. The treatments for degenerative disc disease are either passive (done to the patient) ...
How to heal disc disease?
For the vast majority of patients, the only way to achieve long-term healing is active exercise, which usually includes a combination of strengthening, stretching and low-impact aerobic exercise. Quitting smoking.
How does massage help with lower back pain?
Therapeutic low back massage is thought to provide low back pain relief by improving blood flow, reducing muscle stiffness, increasing range of motion, and raising endorphin levels in the body. See Massage Therapy for Lower Back Pain.
How does an epidural help with back pain?
An epidural injection into the spine delivers steroids that can provide low back pain relief by decreasing inflammation in the painful area. TENS units. These devices deliver mild electrical stimulation that overrides the painful signals sent to the lower back.
What is the best treatment for low back pain?
In addition, heat and/or ice therapy, acupuncture, behavioral therapy, and other therapies often provide enough low back pain relief to allow the patient to progress with his or her exercise and rehabilitation program. advertisement.
Overview
Degenerative disk disease is when your spinal disks wear down. Spinal disks are rubbery cushions between your vertebrae (bones in your spinal column). They act as shock absorbers and help you move, bend and twist comfortably. Everyone’s spinal disks degenerate over time and is a normal part of aging.
Symptoms and Causes
The most common symptoms of degenerative disk disease are neck pain and back pain. You may experience pain that:
Diagnosis and Tests
To diagnose degenerative disk disease, your healthcare provider may start by asking you about your symptoms. Questions may include:
Management and Treatment
Usually, your healthcare provider will recommend noninvasive treatment options first. Your treatment may include:
Prevention
You can prevent or slow the progression of spinal degeneration through lifestyle changes. Some of these include:
Why is degenerative disc disease important?
This may occur in accidents, or as a result of sports injuries, or due to improper bending or lifting techniques performed repeatedly. Using proper form lifting and exercising is important to avoid injury to the discs. By staying in good shape, doing proper exercise and keeping weight down, stress on the discs is reduced.
How to diagnose degenerative disc disease?
The first step in diagnosing degenerative disc disease is obtaining a complete history from the patient, followed by a detailed physical examination of the patient. The next step is to confirm with diagnostic studies. An x-ray of the spine will show collapsed disc spaces. A flexion/extension x-ray of the spine will show whether there is any instability of the spine. An MRI scan is a very sensitive study which will show degenerated discs.
What causes pain in the lower back?
Degenerative disc disease may result in mechanical low back pain. The degeneration of the disc itself may cause patients to have pain in that area of the spine. When the disc collapses down resulting in foraminal stenosis, the patient may experience pain in the leg or arm depending on which nerve is compressed in the foramen. Degeneration of the disc spaces does result in the patient losing height, but this is very unlikely to be noticed except that over time we all lose height as we age.
What to do for a swollen spine?
The following measures may also be taken: 1 Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications 2 Spinal epidural steroid injections 3 Oral pain medications 4 Physical medicine/physical therapy techniques 5 Short course of oral steroids 6 Bracing or support of the spine
Is nonsurgical management a good treatment for degenerative disc disease?
Nonsurgical Options#N#Nonsurgical management has a significant role in the treatment of degenerative disc disease. Many patients will experience flare-ups of pain which will subsequently subside. Many times the pain is manageable. Patients should avoid strenuous activity, bending and twisting during pain flare-ups.
Can degenerative disc disease be accelerated?
Degenerative disc disease is a result of the general aging process but it may be accelerated in cases of trauma. This trauma may be a significant injury such as a motor vehicle accident, or it may be the result of repetitive more subtle injuries, such as improper bending techniques or injury during sports. Increased body weight will also subject disc spaces, especially those of the lumbar spine which bears the weight of the body above it, to additional stress.
Is degenerative disease dangerous?
The pain result ing from degenerative disease is rarely dangerous, but is rather unpleasant and annoying to the patient. If it is severe enough to require surgery, then in an appropriately selected patient, the success rate will be approximately 80% in reducing back pain.
How to diagnose a degenerated disc?
In order to diagnose a degenerated disc, a physician takes a medical history, and performs a comprehensive physical examination that includes checking for numbness or weakness, and testing reflexes to determine whether any muscles have atrophied. Several imaging examinations may also be administered; they include X-rays, to assess spine alignment; MRI scans, to observe any compression of the spinal cord; and CT scans, to evaluate the size of the spinal canal and visualize bone spurs. A myelogram, which uses contrast dye for improved visualization during X-rays or CT scans, may also be administered.
What are the symptoms of degenerated discs?
Compression of the spinal nerves can cause symptoms that include tingling/numbness, muscle weakness, loss of balance/ coordination, and pain and stiffness. Back pain is often worse when sitting, lifting, bending or twisting, and walking or lying down typically helps alleviate the pain.
Why do discs cause back pain?
Because the discs function as between-the-bones shock absorbers, allowing the spine to bend and twist, this deterioration can result in serious back pain. As discs are damaged or wear away, the amount of space between the vertebrae gets smaller. As the space narrows, joints are placed under greater stress, resulting in further degeneration.
What causes disc degeneration?
Although discs degenerate to a degree from normal aging, there are risk factors that increase the likelihood of symptomatic disc degeneration. They include the following: 1 Repeated heavy lifting 2 Obesity 3 Smoking 4 Bone spurs
Where do degenerated discs occur?
Complications Of Degenerated Discs. Although a disc can degenerate anywhere along the 26 vertebrae of the spine, it happens most frequently in the lumbar region (lower back) or the cervical region (neck).
Can a spinal fusion be performed?
In more severe cases, spinal-fusion surgery, which involves removing the disc and fusing the nearby vertebrae to increase stability in the spine, may be performed.
Can you use intradiscal electrothermal therapy for back pain?
Intradiscal electrothermal therapy is often successful in decreasing damage and pain. If a patient’s back pain does not respond to these conservative treatments, surgical intervention may be required. If a disc has become herniated and is pressing on a nerve, a discectomy may be recommended to remove the disc entirely.
Degenerative Disc Disease Treatment Goals
Example Progression of Treatment Regimens For Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease
Active and Passive Treatment Options
Team Approach to Pain Management
