Degenerative Spine Disease Treatment
The tremendous pain along the back with numbness or weakness of the legs due to a degenerated lumbar disc is known as Degenerative disc disease. It cannot really be termed as a serious disease as it is generally caused due to the natural alterations that occur in the spine discs with age. The spine discs are normally soft and they act as a shock absorbent. So with the twist and twitch of our muscles, they become subject to a process of wear and tear. This continuous wear and tear of the spine discs give rise to degenerative disc disease in old age. Although it can occur at any place of our spinal vertebrae the lumbar and cervical regions have been noted as the region of most common occurrence by physicians.
Causes of Degenerative Disc Disease
Although there can be various causes of lumbar disc disease but the most common ones are listed below:
- Slipped disc or the herniated disc is considered the most common cause of back pain related to a degenerated disc.
- Sciatica, a condition that arises due to the pressure exerted by the herniated disc on the nerves connecting the legs thereby causing agitating pain in the lower back and legs.
- Structural irregularity in the spinal vertebrae is another common cause for the degenerated spine disease.
- Osteoporosis, a condition that arises due to old age causes spine fracture hence becoming a prime reason for severe pain in the lower back in old age.
- Apart from these, there some rare causes too which are cancer or infection in the spinal vertebrae.
Treatment of Degenerative Disc Disease
Spine disease treatment or pain management is one of the easiest treatments and can easily be conducted in the home or at the clinic on a daycare basis. Some common methods included in spine disease treatment are:
- The foremost thing to do while witnessing agitating pain in the lower back which in turn is causing numbness in the lower body part is to contact the consultant spine pain specialist immediately and to start immediate treatment.
- Most common treatments related to the degenerated spine pain are complete rest, proper exercise, medicines along with physiotherapy in the first four weeks of the treatment procedure.
- If the pain does not recede even after four weeks treatment then the doctors may consider pain management or Injection therapy as a treatment procedure.
- The surgical methods are generally avoided by the doctors (Except in cases where there are red flags present) and are considered as the weapon of last resort.