You have small cartilage discs in between the small bones in your spine - these are called 'intervertebral discs'. These little cartilage discs allow you to have motion in your spine - this lets you bend forwards and backwards, or twist your torso.

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DEGENERATION

 

These little discs also act as 'shock absorbers' in your spine, helping to dissipate the compressive forces on your spine when you carry something heavy.

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However, these little cartilage discs are thus also susceptible to degeneration and injury when you subject your spine to heavy loads very repetitively, or for a prolonged period of time. Just like the joints in your body which help support you as you carry loads, these little discs are subject to 'wear and tear' changes, and can cause problems as these changes worsen.

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You may start having recurrent episodes of neck or back pain, which get worse after carrying heavy loads. In particular, back pain coming from these little cartilage discs tend to worsen with prolonged sitting, or when you sneeze or cough (since this increases the pressure in your abdominal cavity and your intervertebral discs, especially in the low back area).

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SLIPPED DISC

 

When your degenerate disc condition progresses, it can actually prolapse out, and press on the nerves in your spine.

When this happens, you may feel some pain 'running down' your arm or leg, depending on where the problem is. The pain can be quite bothersome, especially when it starts to limit your daily activity. It tends to flare up more when you bend
over to pick a load up.

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A common area where this happens is in your lower back area (lumbar region of your spine), at the L5/S1 level (this refers to the lower level of your spine in the lumbar region). The pain may run down the back of your leg, going from your lower back, to your buttock, to the back of your thigh, to the back of your calf, to the sole of your foot. This is known as SCIATICA, and is just a medical term for this condition in reference to the nerve affected.

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The treatment for a slipped disc is largely similar to that of a degenerate disc since it is simply a worse version of it, except that people with a slipped disc may require surgery if their symptoms are very persistent, or progressive.

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X-RAYS

 

If your episodes of neck or back pain are becoming very frequent, or if you feel that they are slowly getting worse, it is worthwhile to do an x-ray of the spine in the affected region.

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The x-ray will help your doctor diagnose you if you have this condition, since some features of this disease can be seen on an x-ray - like a loss of the disc height (since your degenerate disc will be a bit shorter than its usual height), and a loss of the normal curvature of your spine (written up in x-ray reports as a 'loss of lordosis' - this happens because of the spasm in the muscles surrounding that part of your spine).

 

The x-ray also helps look for other signs that your spine is going through 'wear and tear' changes - like signs of arthritis in the small joints between the bones in your spine.

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The x-ray also helps your doctor to make sure that there isn't anything more serious in your spine that could be causing your back pain, since a spinal tumour will usually cause a few changes that can be seen on the x-ray film.

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MRI SCAN

 

An X-ray is convenient to do, is readily available, and is very affordable. However, an MRI scan is quite the opposite - it can be difficult to arrange, goes on an appointment basis, takes a while to do, and can be pretty pricey. So why do an MRI scan?

 

A plain x-ray film shows bones and the spaces between the bones well, but an MRI scan focuses more on showing the soft tissue. In regards to your back pain, an MRI scan will help show the state of the intervetebral discs. It'll also show if the disc if prolapsed out of its usual position, and is putting pressure on any of the nerves in your spine, as can happen with a 'slipped disc'. Additionally, if there is a problem in the spine, it'll also help to show how bad it is.

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An MRI scan is also really invaluable for one major reason - it'll help show if there are any tumours around the spine area. If your symptoms are worse than a typical case of back pain due to disc degeneration, or if your pain is very persistent, an MRI scan will help make sure you don't have any cancer deposits in your spine.

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WHAT CAN I DO?

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Like most medical conditions, the back pain you get from degenerative disc disease will respond to some changes to your lifestyle. 

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1. LOSE WEIGHT

 

When you carry extra weight, you're putting more pressure on your spine, and you're more prone to getting flares of low back pain. Carrying excess fat will put more weight on your spine, and the extra load will accelerate 'wear and tear' changes in your spine, and cause more frequent episodes of low back pain.

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Maintain a healthy diet; high in fibre (like vegetables), lean protein (like chicken breast) and low in unhealthy fats (like that in fast food), or follow an 'intermittent fasting' diet to lose the extra fat you're carrying, and take some load off your spine.

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2. EXERCISE

 

Exercising regularly helps you maintain a healthy weight with mostly lean muscle mass. It's also important to do strengthening exercises for your core muscles, since they help support your spine and reduce flares of low back pain.

Check out some of our recommended strengthening exercises here. 

 

When you do your general exercises sessions, be careful to not injure yourself when working out. Always spend a few minutes warming up prior to your workout. Do your exercises with good form, and don't jerk your body around when doing your exercises. Lift weights with caution, and be careful not to overdo it. if you lift something that's too heavy for you, especially with poor form, you're going to get a low back injury and be out of the gym for quite some time.

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3. STRETCH OFTEN

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Do back stretches daily to stretch the small paravertebral muscles on either side of your spine. These muscles help support your spine as you stand, walk, lift loads and bend up and down, and turn over in bed - pretty much anything you do that requires your torso to move.

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Stretching the little muscles that supports your spine help to improve the blood flow through the muscle, and reduce the muscle spasm and pain. Learn how to do some simple stretches here. 

 

Doing some simple back stretches only takes a few minutes - try to do them daily!

 

4. GOOD POSTURE

 

Sitting or standing hunched over increases the pressure on the cartilage discs in your spine (your intervertebral discs).
 

This pressure is also increased when you hunch your back and bend over to pick a load up. Sitting hunched over for a prolonged period of time, or bending up and down repeatedly with your back hunched over can speed up 'wear and tear'
changes in your spine, and cause recurrent episodes of low back pain.

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Sit upright, with your shoulders braced back, and position your computer screen at the correct height - you should be looking directly ahead when looking at it.

 

Keep your lower back arched with a slight curve in it, so that your chest is out and your shoulders pulled back, whenever you bend over to pick something up. It may look a little unnatural and silly, but it'll help to reduce low back pain flares.

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5. DON'T SMOKE

 

Smoking reduces blood flow to the intervertebral discs in your spine, and speeds up 'wear and tear' changes in the area.

It has been shown in medical studies to be a significant factor in causing recurrent low back pain problems. It can be difficult to quit, but it is very possible. Give our article on 'Quitting Smoking' a read to learn how you can quit today!

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SHOULD I BE WORRIED?

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Everyone gets some sort of degeneration in their spine as they age. It really isn't uncommon to see signs of degeneration on the X-ray or MRI scan of a middle-aged or elderly person. Most of the time, these are just the usual 'wear and tear' changes that happen as you age.

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However, when they get worse, or if you keep straining yourself repeatedly, you'll get frequent episodes of pain. As long as the pain isn't too bad, and it settles down with some rest and medication, you probably don't need to be too worried.

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However, if your pain and symptoms aren't so typical:

 

• if your pain isn't settling down and improving after a few days of rest

• if you start having numbness or weakness in your arms or legs, or if you have pain 'running down' from your back to your arms or legs

• if you have problems passing urine or passing motion (either not being able to control your bladder and bowels, or being unable to go to the toilet to pass urine or motion entirely)

• if your pain bothers you late into the night and either stops you from falling asleep, or wakes you up as you rest

 

See a doctor to get yourself checked!

 

WRAP IT UP!

 

Degenerative disc disease is a common spine condition that can happen as you age. Take care of your back today to prevent problems tomorrow!