Any kind of degenerative disorder (related to the heart, musculoskeletal system or nervous system) makes living life normally a big challenge. One of the most common degenerative conditions affecting people worldwide is degenerative disc disease (DDD); which is identified by severe pain in the neck or back. It occurs when one (or more discs) in the spine deteriorates during old age, experiences wear and tear, or gets damaged from an injury or fall. Another variation of this disorder is the multilevel degenerative disc disease – when the dislocation of the disc happens in more than one location along the spine.
Needless to say, the discomfort experienced by degenerative disc disease patients is utterly agonizing and seriously interferes with their quality of life. From performing everyday physical movements to simply sitting on a chair, the pain continues throughout the day and it’s difficult to find a comfortable body position.
Moreover, this pain does not necessarily occur in the lower back and neck only but may occur in the limbs as well. Some patients also experience its adverse effects on the functioning of their bowel and bladder.
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Symptoms of Degenerative Disc Disease
The indicators of this disease are more prevalent in the cervical (neck) or lumbar (lower back) region with persistent pain which can occur even as you perform any simple task, like bending over to tie your shoes. The sensations experienced are often described as “pinching” mainly because this condition puts pressure on your nerves as well. You may experience other symptoms, such as:
Feeling Weak
When nerves near the lower back are continuously attacked by DDD, weakness can be felt in the leg muscles. This leads to problems with balance, mobility, and one’s ability to lift things or adjust into and out of different positions. This weakness may also cause loss of bowel/bladder control.
Difficulty in Turning the Neck
As the neck region is directly connected to the spine, the patient goes through stiffness, muscle spasms, and tenderness which makes even the slight movements of the neck difficult. Some may also experience acute inflammation and shooting pain at certain intervals, usually related to cervical degenerative disc disease.
Sharp Pain in Limbs
The sensations of weakness in the lower limbs is accompanied by unbearable pain (and these symptoms may be associated with degenerative joint diseases as well). The upper body parts such as the arm, chest, head and shoulders experience shooting aches that may or may not be chronic.
Difficulty in Bending, Twisting and Other Activities
The problems in changing various body movements not only restricts one’s indulgence in sports activities but limits the range of movement, as we’ve already discussed, in performing everyday physical tasks. Similarly, holding one position for a long period of time also becomes challenging.
Degenerative Disc Disease Treatment at Advanced Pain Care
All treatments for DDD aim at managing pain and preventing the worsening of the condition. The pain management specialists at APC have extensive experience and knowledge in providing effective relief for various types of chronic pain issues. A thorough diagnosis of your problem will be performed with necessary physical examinations and sophisticated diagnostic equipment.
Accordingly, both surgical and non-surgical options will be evaluated (based on the overall health condition and the present problem at hand) to offer the most ideal cure for a speedy recovery. Here’s a list of the common treatments provided for degenerative disc disease:
1. Medication
There are various over-the-counter medicines that your doctor can prescribe, as per your symptoms and their severity. These include:
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
- Opioid pain relievers
- Acetaminophen
- Antidepressants
- Muscle relaxants
2. Therapeutic Injection
When the pain is too severe to respond to any medicine, injections like – nerve block injections, trigger point injections, epidural corticosteroid injections, etc. can be recommended to curb the symptoms.
3. Spinal Cord Stimulation
It is a minimally invasive surgery in which a remotely controlled device is inserted in the abdomen/hip region. This device then sends a low-level electrical current to the brain to stop the pain signals and provide relief to the patient.
4. Physical Therapy
There are many physiotherapies like deep tissue massage, hot/cold therapy, spinal traction, etc. which are considered along with physical exercises to complement other ongoing treatments.
5. Surgery
Depending on the condition, Advanced surgical center provide us best treatment options can be taken into account like:
- Spinal fusion – This is performed only if the spine is unstable and causes progressive weakness or loss of bowel/bladder control. In cases where a disc is damaged, it is removed by operation and the vertebrae surrounding it are fused to re-stabilize the affected region of the spine.
- Artificial disc replacements – This involves replacing a damaged disc with a prosthetic or artificial disc. This procedure is getting more advanced and gaining wide popularity in treating an unstable spine.
- Discectomy – Here, the removal of some or all of the damaged discs is considered to relieve pressure on a pinched nerve that leads to insufferable pain in the upper or lower extremities.
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