Tigard, Oregon, Luna’s physical therapists specialize in treating degenerative disc disease. With effective pain management techniques plus a tailored exercise and stretching plan, degenerative disc disease can be a thing of your past, once and for all.
Best of all, with Luna, patients can receive physical therapy for degenerative disc disease in the comfort of their homes. Our physical therapists come to you; it’s physical therapy, delivered.
Degenerative disc disease occurs when normal aging and spine degeneration causes pain. Spinal discs act as shock absorbers between the spine’s vertebrae, and with age, they tend to break down. Not everyone will experience pain as their spinal discs break down, but patients who do are considered to have degenerative disc disease.
Patients who have degenerative disc disease are likely to feel sharp or constant pain in their back or neck. In extreme cases, patients may experience numbness or tingling in the limbs. Degenerative disc disease is usually treated with mild pain medication, though physical therapy is often recommended, as well.
Source: WebMD
Age is the primary cause of degenerative disc disease, as it’s natural for the spinal discs to break down over time. However, a few factors tend to differentiate patients who do and don’t experience pain as this occurs.
For one, patients who experience pain are more likely to have more severe drying out of the discs. Spinal discs are about 80 percent water at birth, but this naturally decreases over time, reducing the discs’ ability to absorb shock. People who experience more pain typically also experience more dryness; they also tend to have participated in activities that place stress on the spine or cause spinal injury.
The most common causes of degenerative disc disease include:
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