When you have degenerative disc disease, pain and other symptoms from this condition can affect your day-to-day life. Whether you have minor or severe symptoms, you don’t have to keep enduring them. Several types of treatment options are available for degenerative disc disease, including at-home, non-surgical and surgical treatments. The following can give you an idea of the kinds of treatments your doctor might recommend for this condition.
At-Home Treatment Options
If you have minor degenerative disc disease or mild symptoms, at-home treatments might provide temporary relief. You can do these treatments at home when your symptoms flare up. At-home methods of managing this condition on a short-term basis include doing low-impact exercises to strengthen your back muscles, such as going for walks. You might also find relief from doing yoga or other exercises that involve gently stretching your muscles to ease tension. Applying heat and cold to the affected area might ease pain as well. This involves alternating between cold packs and heating pads every 15 minutes a few times a day.
Non-Surgical Treatment Options
Non-surgical or noninvasive treatment for degenerative disc disease is typically tried before surgical options when at-home options aren’t effective. Your doctor might also recommend these treatments when you have moderate or severe symptoms. These types of treatments might provide relief from pain and other symptoms of this condition. Physical therapy is a common form of treatment for degenerative disc disease. This treatment involves doing a series of stretching and strengthening exercises to help ease symptoms. Other forms of non-surgical treatment that are sometimes used include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or other medications, steroid injections and radio frequency neurotomy. Steroid injections help relieve inflammation, while radio frequency neurotomy involves burning nerves to stop pain signals from traveling to your brain.
Surgical Treatment Options
Surgery usually isn’t needed for degenerative disc disease. However, your doctor might recommend surgical options if noninvasive treatments are not effective. If you continue to have moderate to severe pain, especially if it interferes with your regular activities, your doctor might discuss surgical options with you. Surgical procedures that are done for degenerative disc disease might involve removing part of an affected spinal disc or connecting two or more vertebrae. A discectomy procedure involves taking out part of a spinal disc to ease some of the pressure on your nerves. A spinal fusion procedure involves fusing vertebrae to provide your back with more stability.
It’s important to have orthopedists evaluate your spine in order to determine the right treatment plan. After assessing how severe degenerative disc disease is, orthopedists can recommend effective treatment approaches, such as a combination of at-home treatment and noninvasive treatment for less severe cases.
If you’re looking for effective treatment for degenerative disc disease, contact Huntington Orthopedics for an appointment. We can go over treatment options with you and help you choose the right one for your condition.