According to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a hospital and academic medical center in Los Angeles, degenerative disc disease is not a disease but a condition in which pain is caused by damaged spinal discs. According to the medical center, common symptoms include pain while sitting, bending, twisting or lifting and numbness and tingling in the extremities. Alternative treatments for this ailment are safe, effective and widely used.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a complementary alternative treatment for degenerative disc disease. According to the Spine Universe website, acupuncture uses fine needles to treat a person's pain, and can be an effective alternative to more radical degenerative disc disease treatments. Acupuncturists or practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine suggest that a person possesses an energy force called chi, and when it is blocked, various physical illnesses can manifest, including back pain. Using needles, acupuncturists attempt to remove the blockage and open up the body's meridians, which are channels along which chi flows.
According to the Spine Universe, acupuncture needles have a gauge that's comparable to the thickness of a human hair. The location of needle insertion depends on a person's symptoms and diagnosis, and most sessions require the use of multiple needles. An acupuncturist will insert the needles in exact points along the body's meridians, and the needles will be left in place for 20 to 40 minutes. According to Spine Universe, needling can stimulate the release of endorphins and serotonin, which are neurochemicals that aid the healing process.
Chiropractic
According to the Spine Health website, chiropractic might be helpful in relieving degenerative disc disease-related back or neck pain. The chiropractic approach to treatment is multipronged, but the initial goal is to determine a patient's postural bias or the postures she assumes to help her reduce her back pain. After a patient's postural bias is determined, further chiropractic treatment is based around this bias. According to the Spine Health website, chiropractic treatment for degenerative disc disease includes correcting faulty biomechanics, including spinal fixations, which are areas of decreased movement between vertebrae, pelvic obliquity, muscle imbalances and postural habits, both at home and at work. To help relive degenerative disc disease-related pain, many chiropractors will also prescribe a home care postural exercise regimen to help speed rehabilitation, along with suggesting prevention strategies that include exercise, diet and lifestyle changes.
Prolotherapy
Prolotherapy is an effective treatment for reducing degenerative disc disease-related pain or discomfort as it targets the weak ligaments and tendons that might be associated with the ailment, according to the Spine Universe. Healthy ligaments and tendons help stabilize vertebrae. Once discs begin to degenerate, a person's ligaments and tendons are forced to work harder to maintain back stability, although degenerative changes might occur in these structures too. In some cases, ligaments and tendons supporting the spine can wear out and tear, which leaves the spinal discs vulnerable to injury.
Prolotherapy involves the injection of a non-pharmacological irritant solution or proliferant into a spinal ligament or tendon to stimulate new growth and strengthen the affected area. The proliferant causes localized inflammation, which sets off a healing cascade in the involved area that might result in new tissue generation. A typical prolotherapy treatment regimen involves several rounds of injections to the ailing ligaments and tendons.
