Degenerative Disc Disease

Everybody’s spine gradually changes over time, with the discs in your back adapting to the way your body grows or develops as you get older. However, for some people these natural changes can lead to pain, which is known as degenerative disc disease. The discs in the spine replicate the effect of shock absorbers as they lie between the vertebrae, stopping bones from knocking against each other which would cause extreme pain, and helping you to stay flexible while allowing for you to bend and twist as well. Unfortunately, as you age, these discs begin to suffer the effects of general wear and tear, breaking down and not functioning as efficiently as they did previously. While everybody’s discs degenerate over time, not everybody experiences pain. But, if this does cause you to feel pain, you may be suffering from degenerative disc disease.

Degenerative disc disease is associated with either a constant or sharp pain felt through your back and in your neck. The exact symptoms that you suffer with will be dependent on the location of the weak disc and any further side effects that the degeneration has already caused, but there are some common symptoms too, found in most sufferers. These can include pain that is felt intermittently, ranging from nagging to severe and lasting from a number of days up to months at a time. The pain is often present in the lower back, buttocks, or the upper thighs, and gets more severe when you bend, lift, twist or sit, with the pain being alleviated when you actually walk. In some more extreme cases, degenerative disc disease can affect the nerves near your spine, causing a loss of feeling in the arms and legs and even muscle weakness in the legs. Despite this, at Neuroworks we can come up with a back pain treatment programme that will help to relieve you from the symptoms that you present.

To diagnose and treat degenerative disc disease, Neuroworks will discuss your history and the current symptoms that you are experiencing to assess the initial cause of your problems. Our examinations will help to analyse and identify the root location of the problem, and following our assessment we will work with you to help reduce the painful inflammation and increase the spinal motion that you have available.

Spinal manipulation and mobilisation or adjustment can also help to treat the symptoms, and other types of therapy including muscle release, laser, electrotherapy, acupuncture, exercise and lifestyle advice. (ultrasound can be used to reduce muscle spasms, stiffness and pain in the affected area by gently heating the area to increase circulation). More importantly than all of this however, We will develop a back pain treatment programme to help with the cause, not just the symptoms that you are dealing with at the moment. By doing this, we are able to provide you with a long term solution, not just a stop gap to get you through until degenerative disc disease causes further problems in the future.

Reach out to our team today, call 020 8566 3757.