When the discs that cushion the vertebrae of the spine are damaged enough to affect the nerves or spinal cord, pain, muscle weakness and organ dysfunction can ensue. Despite its daunting name, a diagnosis of degenerative disc disease doesn’t mean that the discs will inevitably continue to deteriorate. In most cases, the joint instability caused by disc degeneration will decrease with time, as the disc hardens and the body adjusts. When the symptoms are chronic and show no sign of abating, treatment options may be explored.
Pain Management
Given that disc degeneration often resolves on its own over time, conservative treatment to manage its symptoms is the initial strategy of most physicians. Pain management techniques can be as simple as making postural adjustments to avoid putting pressure on the disc, using braces to stabilize the spine, or losing weight and exercising to strengthen the body’s core. More aggressive pain management treatments can be attempted with medical assistance. Pain killing medications and steroid injections are both employed by doctors seeking to address the symptoms of degenerative disc disease.
Intradiscal Electrothermal Annuloplasty
Intradiscal electrothermal annuloplasty is a technique that can help strengthen a lumbar, or lower back, disc that has undergone degeneration. This technique involves the use of a heated copper coil that uses high temperatures to cause the disc to harden. The hardening of the disc helps strengthen the joint and stabilize movement in the affected area. Pain may increase directly following surgery, but will gradually improve over approximately three months. The University of Wisconsin Hospital notes that 60 to 70 percent of patients eventually get relief from their pain, with full recovery taking between six months and one year.
Chiropractic
Dr. John P. Revord, a pain medicine and management physician at the NeuroSpine Center of Wisconsin, states that chiropractic care can help in the treatment of disc disease of the lumbar spine, as well as the cervical spine, or neck. Revord advises that this treatment is best if administered within the first six weeks after the onset of symptoms.
Chiropractic treatment of degenerative disc disease can involve manual manipulation of the vertebral joints to promote mobility and relieve nerve impingement. Chiropractors may also supplement their spinal adjustments with therapies such as ultrasound or massage to ease pain and muscle spasms.
Surgery
In cases where more conservative treatments have failed to address the symptoms of degenerative disc disease, surgery is an option. Spinal fusion is a surgical practice wherein the disc between two adjacent vertebrae is removed and the vertebrae are surgically joined together through the use of bone grafts and metal braces. This procedure has some disadvantages, as mobility is lost between the joined vertebrae. Dr. Jerry Swanson of Mayo Clinic notes that spinal fusion requires a significant amount of recovery time.
A newer option for the treatment of disc degeneration is artificial disc replacement. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center describes artificial disc replacement as desirable because it restores normal disc height, allows for continued flexibility of the joint and is reversible.
References
- Cedars-Sinai: Artificial Disc Replacement
- Spine Health: Treatment Options for a Herniated Disc
- Spine-Health: Surgery Options for a Herniated Disc
- MayoClinic.com: Is Disk Replacement Surgery an Effective Treatment for Low Back Pain?
- UCLA Comprehensive Spine Center: Degenerative Disc Disease (Cervical and Lumbar)
- University of Wisconsin Hospital: Intradiscal Electrothermal Annuloplasty (IDET)
