Degenerative Disc Disease

While degenerative disc disease mostly affects the lumbar spinal area (lower back) and the cervical spine area (neck region), it can also affect any part of the spine. You will experience pain depending on what part of the spine is affected. For instance, if you experience pain in your lower back, you may have a damaged disc at that site.

Other times, the pain may radiate to other parts of your body. There are nerves that come from the spine to other regions of the body. So, if the damaged disc is creating pressure on a nerve that is branching to your legs, you may feel pain in your legs as well. The nerves will send the message of pain, which is known as radiculopathy in medical terms.

Usually, people with degenerative disc disease symptoms will experience severe back and neck pain. Other times, this pain might get worse. The main symptom to look out for is pain. So, you should focus on the pain and whether it gets better or worse. People with degenerative disc disease usually have the following patterns:

• Acute pain when bending, twisting, lifting or sitting
• A little pain when lying down
• A little pain when running or walking
• A little pain when frequently changing positions

If you suspect you may have disc degeneration disease, you should see a doctor right away. Here are some warning signs that require immediate medical help:

• Pain that gets worse
• Pain, weakness and numbness in your legs
• Disabling pain
• Loss of bowel control

Initial treatment of degenerative disc disease often includes a conservative approach to manage pain and strengthen the back. Pain medication, physical therapy and lifestyle changes, such as increasing movement throughout the day or gentle stretching exercises, may be sufficient to ease symptoms.

When conservative approaches are not enough to manage pain, surgery for degenerative disc disease is a viable treatment approach. Artificial disc replacement — a minimally invasive, two-hour outpatient procedure — is one of the best choices and most common procedures performed based on conditions resulting from degenerative disc disease.

Dr. Katzman, lead surgeon at NJ Spine & Orthopedic, has successfully performed over 250 artificial disc replacements and is dedicated to developing advanced methods to provide minimally invasive solutions for degenerative spine issues.

His team of spine experts at NJSO perform most procedures on an outpatient basis using minimally invasive techniques.

Are you experiencing chronic back pain from degenerative disc disease or an accompanying condition? You don’t have to go through life tolerating your pain any longer — try our Candidacy Verification tool and find out if you qualify for one of our minimally invasive surgical options.