Degenerative Disc Disease

About Degenerative Disc Disease

Debilitating back pain disrupts your life. You can’t work or go to school; you can barely get out of bed. Don’t let this happen to you. Visit a back specialist to have your back examined. If you have degenerative disc disease, you need treatment to get back on your feet. Dr. Amr Hosny and his team of best pain doctors at the Spine & Rehab Group are the experts you seek. With eight locations in New York City and northern New Jersey, there’s an office near you. Call for an appointment today.

Is Degenerative Disc Disease an Old-Age Problem?

Degenerative disc disease is a medical condition that’s commonly caused by the wear and tear from old age. But other causes can trigger the disease in younger people. In fact, it usually affects people aged 30 to 50. If left untreated, the condition often leads to further deterioration of the affected spinal discs. Degenerative disc disease is one of the main reasons you may be suffering from:

• Lower back pain
• Neck pain
• Upper back pain
• Even middle back pain

Getting diagnosed early helps you get treatment before the condition becomes too severe. Consulting with top spine specialists like Dr. Amr Hosny and his team at the Spine & Rehab Group is the best choice for diagnosing and treating degenerative disc disease. Convenient locations in Union County, Morris County and Bergen County in New Jersey — and in Greenwich Village, the Financial District and Midtown Manhattan in NYC — make it easy to find an pain center near you.

Our Board certified doctors Amr Hosny, MD, MBA, FASA Book Now David Chu, MD, FAAPMR Book Now Vivek Mehta, MD, FAAPMR Book Now Deepali Gupta, MD, DABA, DABPM Book Now

What Causes Degenerative Disc Disease?

Intervertebral discs are the spongy shock absorbers that sit in between your spinal bones. They help cushion the bones and add flexibility to your spine as you move. Over time, the aging process or another cause makes the discs lose their sponginess and elasticity, which causes the bones to rub against one another when you move. The resulting friction leads to inflammation of the surrounding tissues.

This condition can occur anywhere in your spine, including in the cervical, thoracic or lumbar region. Other ways discs can get damaged include:

• A sports Injury that causes a lower back sprain, a mid-back sprain or a neck sprain
• Trauma from a car accident or fall
• Poor posture while sitting or standing over a long period
• Extra body weight, which puts more pressure on your spinal bones
• Weak core and back muscles
• Incorrectly lifting heavy objects, a practice that can also cause shoulder injuries and knee injuries

What Are the Symptoms of Degenerative Disc Disease?

Some people with severe disc degeneration feel no pain, while others with a mild form of the disease suffer from intense pain. Because of this anomaly, diagnosis for degenerative disc disease can be difficult. Choose a spine specialist who knows how to identify the disease and knows how to treat degenerative disc disease. That’s the best way to ensure you get proper, targeted degenerative disc disease treatment.

There are often noticeable symptoms that point your spine doctor to a diagnosis of degenerative disc disease. These signs accompany your back pain and may include:

• Mild to disabling back pain, depending on the severity and location of the damaged disc
• Most often in your lumbar spine area
• Pain that comes and goes
• Pain that gets worse from sitting for a while
• Increasing pain after you lift something heavy or twist your spine
• Feeling better when you walk or lie down
• Pain that affects not only your spine, but also your buttocks, thighs, neck, arms and hands
• Weakness in your legs
• Numbness and tingling sensations in your extremities

What Are Degenerative Disc Disease Treatments?

Whenever you feel pain, your impulse may be to take over-the-counter pain medicines. If you think the cause is muscular, you may try applying heat or getting a therapeutic massage. Physical therapy may be your next step. But if you have back pain, your best bet is to visit a knowledgeable spine doctor like Dr. Hosny at the Spine & Rehab Group to get an accurate diagnosis.

While your pain may be muscular in nature — a muscle sprain or strain — it’s also possible you’ve suffered a more serious injury than you realize. Dr. Hosny and his team have access to the latest technology to deliver effective pain relief. Degenerative disc disease treatments include:

• Cervical epidural steroid injections, which are effective not just for degenerative disc disease, but also for a slipped or bulging disc in your neck
• Mid-back epidural steroid injections for thoracic issues
• Lumbar epidural steroid injections for lower back pain, including a bulging disc in your lower back
• Caudal epidural steroid injections for degenerative disc disease in your tailbone, which is rare
• Trigger point injections, which are less invasive than epidural injections
• Facet joint injections, which can also be effective
• Radiofrequency rhizotomy or radiofrequency neurotomy, which neutralize the pain from a pinched nerve

These pain management injections kill your pain long enough for you to do some light stretching exercises with a physical therapist. If your condition is severe enough or these treatments don’t help, you may be a candidate for minimally invasive surgery. Your treatment starts with a visit to an expert spine specialist. Contact the Spine & Rehab Group today for an accurate diagnosis of what’s causing your back pain.

Dr. Amr Hosny is a Harvard-trained Interventional Spine Specialist that helps patients achieve pain relief, heal from injury, and return to their normal lifestyle as soon as possible without surgery.

Dr. Hosny completed an Interventional Spine fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, in Boston, MA, and then finished his residency at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, Columbia University in NYC. He currently serves as an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at New York Medical College and is a written examination editor for the American Board of Anesthesiology. Experienced physician, educator, and healthcare entrepreneur, Dr. Hosny, is committed to enhancing health equity and accessibility using information technology in an era of rapid healthcare transformation while upholding the highest medical care standards.

More About Dr. Hosny

The Spine & Rehab Group
140 NJ-17,
Paramus, NJ 07652
(212) 242-8160