Degenerative disc disease causes pain in the neck or back, and can also cause tingling or numbness in the arms or legs. It’s not actually a disease and may not get worse over time. Symptoms vary and can be felt in other areas of the body.
The most common symptoms of degenerative disc disease include pain in the neck or back. Other areas of the body can also be affected, although these areas may not always be painful. For example, symptoms of degenerative disc disease can include tingling or numbness in an individual’s legs or arms. Sometimes the tingling is accompanied by pain; other times not. It usually begins to affect people in their 30s and 40s and may or may not get worse with age.
The name degenerative disc disease is really a misnomer. It’s not actually a disease, and often it doesn’t get progressively worse over time; indeed, sometimes it gets better. Degenerative disc disease is a medical term used to describe what happens to the discs in the spine as a person ages. The discs separate the vertebrae in the spine and act as shock absorbers for the spine, letting it twist and bend with movement. Although degenerative disc disease usually affects the spine, it also typically affects the neck and lower back.
There are some common symptoms of degenerative disc disease that are quite typical for most people affected by the condition. For example, if a healthy individual in their 30s or 40s has degenerative disc disease, the pain shouldn’t be severe or continuous. If it’s extreme and never gives up, the patient’s doctor might consider other medical diagnoses. Because the condition is usually related to physical activity, pain flare-ups often occur after periods of physical activity. After the flare-up, the pain typically returns to low-level pain or disappears altogether.
One of the problems with the condition is that the symptoms of degenerative disc disease vary for each person. For example, some people will feel a high level of pain after any exercise, while other people will feel no pain at all. Generally, symptoms of degenerative disc disease are usually felt in the back or neck, but some people with the condition only have pain in one arm, leg, or buttock.
There are some less common degenerative disc disease symptoms. For example, lower back pain is sometimes more severe after periods of sitting. Additionally, people with the condition may notice that walking or running can feel better than sitting or standing for long periods of time. Most people with this condition will feel better if they can even change positions from time to time. Also, certain movements, such as twisting, bending, or lifting, can cause the condition to flare up.
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