Degenerative Disc Disease: What Is It And What Does It Look Like For You?

Picture this; You go to your medical doctor for spine related pain, and after all these x-rays, scans, MRI’s and exams your doctor gives you the diagnosis.

You have DDD. Degenerative Disc Disease in your lower back.

Thank goodness he was able to find something, and now you know you weren’t crazy. You do have a condition and a reason to have all these symptoms.

Then he hits you with

“There’s nothing we can do”

Oof.

Surely there is something he can do to help you, after all, you have a disease and doctors help treat disease.

In this article we are going to discuss what DDD or Degenerative Disc Disease is and why it can be such an interesting condition for those who are afflicted.

What is Degenerative Disc Disease

DDD or Degenerative Disc Disease is a common term thrown around today by doctors, but what is it?

DDD is one of the most commonly diagnosed conditions in todays medicine. Degenerative disc disease is not a disease in the traditional sense, but rather a term used to describe age-related changes that occur in the spinal discs over time. While it primarily affects individuals over the age of 50, it can also manifest in younger adults due to various factors such as spinal misalignment, lifestyle choices, and injuries. As the name suggests, the condition involves the gradual degradation of the intervertebral discs, resulting in reduced disc height and compromised function.

DDD is considered a blanket term to describe arthritis in the spine, but is arthritis really that bad?

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Arthritis, Is It Healthy?

Believe it or not, arthritis is a great boon to the body, at least in the sense of self preservation.

How Does Arthritis Work?

Arthritis has a job within the body, and without it, we would be in a world of hurt. The body is designed by God to be a perfect specimen of life, and it is… until the outside world comes in and tears it apart. As we go through life, we encounter stressful thoughts, traumas (car accidents or just looking down all the time), or different toxins like air pollutants and tap water. This stressors will cause the nervous system to short circuit and cause spastic contraction of the muscles. Commonly these muscles will become really tight and pull spinal bones out of alignment.

“After coming in and getting these adjustments, I have realized how much alignment really matters!” -Tom Zoeckler

This is not the only way bones can misalign, but it is one of the most common ways.

Once these bones have been pulled out of alignment, it will lead to instability in the spine. This instability will threaten the body similar to how a busted foundation will threaten collapse of a building, and the body goes to work the only way it knows how in order to fix the problem. Just like how you’d fix a buildings foundation, the body begins to layer more and more bony tissue around this unstable area to create a sense of stability.

Sure, that may give you a little pain in the low back, but at least you are still standing. Sure, it may lead to a decrease in function of the associated organs, but at least you can still live a semblance of a normal life. Sure, that can lead to restricted movement in your knees, but at least you can still walk.

As your body builds this bony tissue up around the unstable joint, the disc will begin to thin due to the abnormal wear and tear. The abnormal biomechanics will begin to collapse the disc and voila, you now have degenerative disc disease.

Based on what we have talked about, which of the above images describes Degenerative Disc Disease on X-ray?

Trick question…

They both do!

DDD is considered a blanket diagnosis. By that I mean, anyone can have it, and it is extremely loose on diagnosis charts. When you visit your medical doctor, outside of surgery (which has a 76% failure rate), they have no way to treat the instability and stop arthritis. To their eyes, this is just a normal process of life.

It is not your MD’s fault.

Your medical doctor is like a firefighter. They are in charge of absolute emergencies and they come in to put out the fire. That is what they are there for, and they do a darn good job.

Degenerative Disc Disease is not a fire, but more like a pressure cooker. If left unattended, it can become an explosion which leads to a fire (think increasing degeneration leading to surgery).

If attended too, the pressure can be managed and safely released. That is where we at Clarity Chiropractic come in.

How to Manage Degenerative Disc Disease

At Clarity Chiropractic, our job is not to put out the fire, but to rebuild your spine in the proper structural position. This rebuilding through adjustments will allow your spine to regain stability, halt arthritis in its tracks and allow your body to move freely with less restriction. All of these are our goal, but in the meantime, neck pain & back pain is going to fall away as an added benefit. The most common type of degeneration we see in our office is lumbar disc degeneration.

Will My Disc Degeneration Improve?

Degeneration or as we learned earlier, added bone growth, can resorb. That being said, it is pretty uncommon. Just because you have arthritis though, does not mean you have to have problems. Once the spine is structurally in alignment and the stability has been restored, arthritis will not impact it negatively. Just because your foundation has extra bricks after its been corrected doesn’t mean you’ll rely on them. They are just cosmetic at that point.

As you can see, DDD or degenerative Disc Disease is a broad diagnosis with a wide array of symptoms and signs. Just because you have been told you have DDD at L5-S1, does not mean you have to live with symptoms all your life. Take charge of your health and work towards correcting your spine today. It is never to late to see benefits of structural correction. Contact our office today to learn if Chiropractic care at Clarity Chiropractic in Johnston is right for you!