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Degenerative conditions of the spine are due to arthritis in the spine.
It happens naturally to everyone, but not everyone gets symptoms.
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There's basically two ages where it can happen, and
it depends also on the location of the problem.
It first starts in the early 20s in the lower back when you can get
disc herniations or back pain as the discs naturally wear out and
degenerate.
It then can occur in the lower back in the 50s and
60s when you develop further arthritis in the facet joints which
are prepared joints in the back of the spine.
And then you can begin to get back pain again,
buttock pain, or weakness or numbness in your legs.
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It can have a genetic component.
There are tendencies in different families to have back problems.
Probably related to a conditions that we don't understand.
But then also their anatomy, so there's a spectrum of space for
the nerves in the back and some people have more space than others.
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There's a spectrum of symptoms and
it can range from a backache that is short lasting,
maybe a few days to a week or so to leg symptoms such as sciatica pain,
numbness, tingling, or weakness down your legs or arms.
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There are some conditions in the back where if left
untreated the pain will worsen over time.
Those conditions can be treated with medical management, including
exercise, medications, sometimes shots and in extreme cases surgery.
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Degenerative spine conditions are diagnosed first with taking
a careful history, talking to the patient and
doing a physical examination.
To determine if there are any physical
signs of a condition that you have to be aware of.
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It can spread to other parts of the spine as they develop arthritis.
Fortunately, most of the time, the symptoms are short-lived.
And could get better either on their own or with physical therapy and
over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications or
other types of pain medications.
Occasionally it requires more advanced treatment.
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Disc degeneration is a normal part of the human condition.
When it puts pressure on nerves, and
the nerves develop symptoms such as numbness, or tingling, or weakness,
or pain, it can cause permanent symptoms.
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Non-surgical treatments that are used to treat degenerative spine
include physical therapy, which is the mainstay of treatment.
And this usually involves a home exercise program.
Anti-inflammatory medications such as Ibuprofen or
Motrin or Aleve are also used.
And occasionally prescription medications will be needed too.
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depend upon the type of problem that you're having.
If you’re having leg pain or
arm pain and it’s due to pressure on a nerve, procedures can be performed
to take the pressure off that nerve and relieve the symptoms.
In some instances,
a fusion is necessary to treat either instability, too much motion
in the back that either exists and is causing the symptoms.
Or is created in the course of the operation or
in rare occasions to treat the back pain or neck pain itself.
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Recovery's a process of getting better.
First after surgery there is pain
associated with the operation itself.
That is treated with pain medications but
then also goes pretty rapidly away on its own.
Then there's physical therapy to get your mobility back, and
your strength back, in your body,
and then there's a general recovery process after that.
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We're in the early phases of looking at ways to prevent
reverse arthritic changes in joints in the back.
And it's being done in an experimental level in our lab and
some clinical trials are also underway.
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