Degenerative Disc Disease Symptoms

A typical person with degenerative disc disease is active, healthy and in his or her 30s or 40s. Although the degenerative disc disease is not really a disease, it is a threatening condition once it progresses.

The disc degenerative disease is actually a wrong representation of the condition since it is a natural part of aging. It is not considered as a disease but a degeneration of the invertebral discs and/or the displacement of the disc and vertebra.

During the degenerative disc disease progression, the spinal canal where the spinal cord and nerve roots are located narrows, which causes the change in the intervertebral discs. Aging and misuse of the muscle in the spine result in these discs’ wear and tear. Medical experts describe the spine degenerative disc disease as part of the aging process, thus it usually occurs in older people. Due to the aging process a person undergoes, this spinal disc begins to degenerate, losing its ability to absorb pressure, and becoming weaker and brittle.

Common degenerative disc disease symptoms include lower back pain, thigh pain, sporadic tingling or spasm in the lower back, weakness of the legs, and numbness of muscles, among others. Lower back pain is the most common disc degenerative disease symptom. The pain spreads to the hips through the buttocks. The pain is usually caused by the inflammation of the tissue surrounding the disc. Because the degenerative spinal disc disease is characterized by the displacement of the discs, it causes pressure on the nerve roots and the spinal canal, thus, leading to lower back pain.

The degenerative disc disease is most likely to progress, but the degenerative disc disease pain usually does not get worse and in fact usually gets better over time. Each disc has a posterior side, extending to the different organs, tissues and other nerves, The degenerative discs put pressure on these nerves causing excruciating pain, numbness and inability to move. Some people feel pain in the thighs while walking or doing movements that put pressure on the affected area because the displaced or degenerated discs are aggravated by the movement. Some degenerative disc are either bulging or ruptured resulting in nerve pain. When the area is continuously use by the person, the discs become so swollen or inflamed, thus, increasing the pain in the lower back. Moreover, in some cases, the low back pain may worsen merely by standing or sitting for a prolonged period of time. It is because there is less or no blood circulation in the area.  While seated, the discs of the lower back also have three times more load on them than when standing.
Other people experience weakness in the knees. People can’t exert much force because every movement of the muscles affects the degenerative disc by putting pressure on them. Another symptom of the degenerative disc disease is the sporadic tingling or spasms in the lower back. Spasm, characterized by the involuntary muscle contraction, is usually accompanied by pain due to the inflammation of the degenerative disc.

People aged 60 and above with minor degenerative disc disease usually experience leg pain or cramps, and sometimes numbness or the inability to feel pain. They also feel stiffness, the inability to move muscles, during the morning and evening. Weakness in the leg muscles or foot drop may be a sign that there is damage to the nerve root and this may occur to multilevel degenerative disc disease.