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Degenerative Disc Disease and Alternative Treatments

If you suffer from degenerative disc disease, alternative treatments may be able to help you manage your symptoms. There’s no doubt that the aging process takes its toll on the spinal anatomy, and intervertebral discs that cushion adjacent vertebrae can lose water content, height, and elasticity. When these cartilaginous discs are no longer able to sustain the pressure of the body’s weight and movements, conditions like herniated discs and bulging discs can develop. These abnormalities are not in and of themselves painful, but if the disc material extrudes into the spinal canal and exerts pressure on nearby spinal nerves, the patient might develop radiating symptoms of pain, tingling, numbness, and weakness. Those same symptoms can develop after discs collapse, which allows adjacent vertebrae to move closer together and impinge, or pinch, spinal nerve roots.

Conservative Treatment Options

The good news is that many cases of degenerative disc disease are completely asymptomatic and only a small percentage of the affected population must resort to spinal surgery for lasting pain relief. Work with your doctor to develop a plan of conservative, non-operative treatments that may include any of the following:

• Cutaneous stimulation – Also called hot-cold therapy. Alternating compresses of hot and cold can activate the healing process; while heat increases circulation, and cold reduces inflammation.
• Exercise – Gentle, low-impact exercise helps patients maintain a healthy body weight and strengthen bones without putting too much pressure on the joints. Consult your physician about exercises like swimming, hiking, walking, step aerobics, exercise ball therapy, recumbent stationary bikes, or elliptical trainers.
• Medication – Pain medication can be found over-the-counter or with a doctor’s prescription. Medication for back and neck pain comes in a variety of forms, from oral analgesics or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to lidocaine patches and injections of corticosteroids.
• Alternative treatments – while not always accepted in the medical community, alternative treatments like chiropractic medicine, acupuncture, and massage have helped some patients achieve temporary relief from pain.

Surgical Options

While conservative and alternative treatments will help about 90 percent of degenerative disc disease sufferers achieve pain relief, the other 10 percent may be searching for more progressive treatment options like surgery. To find out more about the benefits of outpatient endoscopic procedures for back and/or neck pain, contact Laser Spine Institute. We’ll review your MRI or CT scan completely free of charge to find out if you could be a candidate for our safe and effective procedures.

Please note: Laser Spine Institute currently does not perform endoscopic procedures on the thoracic spine.