Degenerative Joint Disease of the Spine – What s it?

In simplest terms degenerative joint disease of the cervical, throacic and lumbar spine is not really a disease, its a condition caused by mechanical stress. You don’t “catch it” you develop it over the years or as a result of traumatic injury. DDD means the disc material between your vertebrae have worn.

The degree of wear may not actually correlate to the amount of pain you feel. Some patients with severe DDD on imaging studies have little pain, while others with relatively little Imaging Evidence have severe pain. This can be due to a number of factors including inflammatory proteins within the disc themselves. For this reason there is no solid agreement int he medical community as to what constitutes Degenerative Disc Disease. At what point do you have it and what does that mean?

Just because you have DDD doesn’t mean it will get worse in the future. Pain you feel now may actually subside or completely disappear even though your disc continues to lessen in height and resiliency with time. This is why so many are told Surgery is NOT a good option, even if there appears to be significant DDD on an MRI Scan. This is also what makes lower back pain so insidious. Diagnosis can not be made on the basis of imaging studies alone.

DDD of the Cervical Spine can be more problematic because the nerves in the Cervical Spine control more bodily functions. Most people don’t realize the true Spinal Cord ends in most patients around the L1 level and branches out to many nerve roots called the “cauda equina” that travel to the lower body and legs. Essentially you are not going to become paralyzed from a Degenerated Disc in the Lumbar Spine, whereas this is not the case in the Cervical Spine. This is another reason Doctors are adverse to Surgery in the Lower Back. It’s not going to kill you, but your life has the potential to be very unpleasant if you don’t figure out how to stop the pain.

The good news is if it isn’t causing you pain you are lucky. It may only be limiting your range of motion, but that may not be too bad. One Neurosurgeon told me all my neck vertebrae would be fused together in 10 years (well 4 of them anyways). And each is responsible for 3% of my neck motion. He said 85% of the motion of the neck actually happens at the top of the neck where your spine meets your skull. In my research his idea was correct, but the numbers were off. I hate it when Physicians talk down to me like I’m too stupid to understand Human Anatomy.

Answers about Degenerative Disc Disease

Part of the confusion probably comes from the term “degenerative”, which implies that it will get worse with age. While the disc degeneration is likely to progress over time, the associated pain from degenerative disc disease usually does not get worse and in fact usually gets better over time.

Another source of confusion is probably created by the term “disease”, which is actually a misnomer. Again degenerative disc disease is actually not a disease at all, but rather a degenerative condition that at times can produce pain from a damaged disc. Degenerative disc disease is quite variable in its nature and severity. With age, all people will exhibit changes in their discs consistent with degeneration. However, not all people will develop symptoms. Degeneration of the joints is unavoidable, but the speed of joint degeneration can be slowed.

Finally, some of the confusion surrounding degenerative disc disease probably comes from the medical community, as few medical professionals have yet to agree on what the phrase describes. Because few practitioners agree on what does and does not constitute a diagnosis of degenerative disc disease, very few medical textbooks even attempt to give an accurate description. Therefore, while many practitioners believe that degenerative disc disease is a common cause of low back pain in young adults, very few agree on the implications.

Source: Spine-Health.com

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Quick Preface: I have DDD, Collapsed Cervical Discs, Bulges and Herniations. I’ve had MRA’s, MRI’s, Upright MRI’s, IV Drips, CT Scans, and on and on. I’ve tried therapies you have never even heard of and my research will help ANY neck pain sufferer that will take the time to read it!

In July 2008 I moved the content of HealthSynergyRx including the Popular Neck Pain / Cervical Disc information to the WordPress Format so I can keep you all up-to-date with new information. Topics like ADR (Artificial Disc Replacement) and state of the art imaging.

By moving to this new Blog Platform I’m able to quickly and easily post many small easy to read messages in their own unique post instead of trying to cram them all onto a single page that is too long to read comfortably. Now you can Scan for what you want and go right to the Article in any Category.

Dates of the post are not as important as the information contained. I am continually writing and updating, and editing Posts. So a post on the ProDisc C may have the date it was originally posted at the top, but the important date is at the end of the article which lists that last update.

Cervical Spine / Neck Pain Category – Help You Won’t Find Anywhere Else!

Most “Run of the mill MD’s” and even many “Experienced MD’s” do NOT know about the majority of the treatments I have uncovered in 100′s of hours of yearly research or they choose to ignore or discredit the available information. Doctors are paid to cut and drug. They are not paid to explore alternative treatments, even if those treatments are the best option for their patients.

Because Doctors Don’t know “How” to fix your neck. They only refer you to Surgery or to Physical Therapy. Doctors are not taught about Nutrition in Medical School. Doctors are not taught about specific treatment options other than “Cut and Drug”. Doctors have not taken the time to do anything more than a brief reading of my films then send me on my way. In short nearly all my Doctor visits have been a complete waste of time and money. So I had two options… live with the pain forever, or start researching Alternative Medicine and try and find a solution on my own. I chose the latter.

I have read 1,000′s of articles, abstracts, research papers, and scientific studies on neck pain and the cervical spine because I have unresolved neck pain and horrible unresolved balance issues. I’d like to invite you to join me in finding solutions to pain and suffering. If you are like me; you have probably been to many specialists and have not found relief. Relief is available but you might just have to uncover the solution yourself. I hope I can help you with my research.

There are so many overlooked and underutilized treatments. And I’m not talking snake oil here, I’m talking real world tested therapies used around the World. I’m talking about technologies your Physician may not have in your local area. Treatments like MRI scans of the nerves, Thermography to isolate sources of inflammation, Upright MRI to see the discs under load, specific non-drug supplements like Serrapeptase and Wobenzyme to bring down inflammation. YES!

There is a good chance you will find one or more treatments that apply to your specific condition that are being overlooked by your local Doctor. So please take the time to sort through the articles your own pace. If you don’t have time right now, come back later. I’ve uncovered over 50 ways to treat or fix forever neck pain! And it takes a lot of time to write about them all, and a lot of time to read about them all.

If you have neck pain (cervical spine) caused by cervical spondylosis or ? NOW IS THE TIME to evaluate why before it’s too late!

Think you have tried it all? NOT! There are treatment modalities and options here in the Neck Pain – Cervical Spine Category that you probably have not even heard of! Every week I find more information about the cervical spine and potential treatments. The neck pain treatments listed here are not “static” this is an ongoing project to beat cervical spinal pain. I’ve been making this site for more than 3 years now and consider it my mission to keep posting relevant information as long as I can find it and people find it useful.

I’m not just some writer… I have Degenerative Disc Disease, Cervical Spondylosis and a Herniated Cervical Disc. As mentioned above I have read 1,000′s of articles, abstracts, opinions, research studies on cervical spine problems which cause neck pain and continue to do so. Before you let anyone do anything to your neck you MUST correct the CAUSE if possible. Discs break under mechanical pressure – that is gravity and misuse or misalignment of the spine. My disc failure was the result of poor posture at the office computer for years on end. Surgery WILL NOT stop your pain if you don’t first address the cause of the failure. A repaired disc will simply rupture again unless you STOP the forces that started the downfall in the first place. You may have to give up some of the physical activities you once enjoyed (For me it is cycling, for you maybe horseback riding, water skiing, etc.). It’s a dirty little secret of nature – herniated disc will NEVER be the same as it was before injury, thus you must take care of it!

A poor Physician will tell you it’s just AGE or WEAR AND TEAR, and while that may play a role, the real culprit is mechanical breakdown stressing the joints. This is further compounded by poor nutrition, smoking, and stress. You can sit back and do nothing and get worse, or you can take responsibility for your own health and improve. The choice is yours. Neck pain sucks! Get Better!