Degenerative Disc Disease

Degenerative disc disease is a medical condition in which the patient experiences pain due to the deterioration of spinal discs over a period of time as the person ages.

Spinal discs that are placed in between the spine bones play the most important role of supporting our body as well as absorbing shocks which are generated through various activities we perform. These discs mainly consists of two parts: a) outer layer (a tough layer made up of fibrous substance) and b) jelly like substance which is inside the disc contained by an outer tough layer. In any case, damage to both the parts of the spinal disc causes excruciating pain (as the outer layer carries nerves which happens to be the most sensitive part of our body and the inner jelly like substance, which has a swelling effect on tissues and which when leaks out of the disc can cause extreme pain in the patient).

Generally, degeneration of the discs happens over a long period of time (nearly 25 to 30 years) during which initially an acute pain is experienced by the patient due to which the free movement of the back becomes very difficult. Slowly, after that, the bones surrounding the discs start showing symptoms including extreme pain and difficulty to move and become unusable as the supporting discs are damaged (back pain in aged people is one such example).

What are the symptoms of degenerative disc disease?
As mentioned earlier, the disease takes a long period to uncover itself as it is mainly related to degeneration of spinal discs. The symptoms of the disease are as given below:

• Patient experiences excruciating pain in the damaged discs and its surrounding area. The pain sometimes comes in shots and it is most when the load on the back (spine bones) increases, such as when a person is carrying some weight directly on his/her back or sitting in a wrong position.
• The patient finds it very difficult to bend or twist his back and experiences extreme pain when doing any such activity or when he/she is in a wrong position.
• If the patient stays in one position for a longer period, then in such cases, he/she may experience numbness in the back area.
• Many people experience pain and weakness in the leg muscles.
• As the outer layer of the discs contain nerves, the patient may also experience dizziness if he/she remains in only one position for a longer period.

What are the causes of degenerative disc disease?

• As the spinal discs play an important role to support the spinal bones and also to give support to our body, the degeneration of the discs occurs over the period of time due to wear and tear leading to degenerative disc disease.
• For any tissue in our body to stay healthy and heal as soon as possible, continuous blood supply is very essential. As the blood supply to the spinal discs is very less, the healing process is way too slow. As these discs work as shock proofing for our body, the discs are always subjected to wear and tear, leading to the condition of degenerative disc disease.
• Water helps the disc tissues in maintaining the strength and being able to absorb the shocks. As we age, the water level in the spine discs decreases, causing the shock absorbing ability of the discs to degrade, leading to degenerative disc disease.
• If the patient sustains any kind of physical harm to the spinal discs, it may cause the discs to damage and start degenerating, leading to degenerative disc disease.
• Wrong way of sitting or walking habits, carrying heavy loads, etc., may lead to wear and tear of the spine discs causing onset of the degenerative disc disease.

How is degenerative disc disease diagnosed?
Diagnosis of degenerative disc disease starts with the primary symptoms and patient's physical examination. The doctor may ask the patient to perform certain tasks to confirm symptoms of degenerative disc disease. Physical examination, early symptoms, MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan, CT scan and X-rays, etc., are used to confirm the disease.

The tests mentioned above can help in finding out if there is any abnormal change in the structure of spinal discs.

How is degenerative disc disease treated?
Initial part of the treatment for many people, as they often complain about the pain and inflammation associated with the disease, includes medication to fight these problems. Physical therapy is also considered as one of the possible options to start with. Doctors may also include exercises to help the patients and his/her body to develop necessary strength to bear the pain.

Surgery is used as a last resort if any prescribed medication, exercises and other methods are not able to help the patient in getting rid of the pain and trouble caused by the disease or if his/her health condition (related to the disc) is deteriorating.