Degenerative disc disease has the same causes and factors regardless of where the degenerative discs are located, but the symptoms felt will vary depending on this. It’s useful to know the different ways that degenerative disc disease affects the body when it’s located in the lower back or the neck, in order to better understand your symptoms and what you’re feeling.
Degenerative Disc Disease
As we get older, we all develop degenerative discs to a certain extent. While for some of us, these discs will not cause serious symptoms, or any symptoms at all, for others, this wear and tear will lead to debilitating symptoms. This condition occurs when spinal discs become torn for reasons such as age, physical activity (or lack thereof), and habits, such as smoking. Once the spinal discs develop tears, the center part of the disc, called the nucleus pulposus, begins to leak out. This causes irritation and inflammation of the surrounding nerves, and can even lead to the disc itself becoming dehydrated.
This irritation and inflammation of the nerves can cause sciatic nerve issues, which is often mistakenly attributed to compression of the nerve. In addition to sciatic nerve pain, this can also cause a lack of flexibility in the spine when the discs become dehydrated. Further, without the “cushion” of spinal discs between the vertebrae, the spine will essentially become bone on bone, and this causes pain as well. Other common symptoms of degenerative disc disease include:
- Pain that worsens when sitting. This is due to the fact that spinal discs take on three times as much load while sitting than when standing.
- Pain that worsens when bending, twisting or lifting motions are made. Bending forward, side bending, arching the back, rotating, and twisting are common actions that put stress on spinal discs.
- Feeling better when walking or running than after sitting or standing for long periods of time.
- Having to lie down or change positions often in order to feel relief.
- Feeling pain that comes and goes. These periods of pain may last as little as a few days to as long as a few months and can potentially involve mild, nagging pain or severe and disabling pain. Where the pain is felt will depend on the location of the damaged disc or discs, but is generally felt in the lower back, buttocks, thighs, neck, and may radiate into the arms and hands.
- Numbness or tingling in affected extremities.
- A feeling of weakness in the leg muscles or an inability to lift the foot off the ground, known as foot drop.
- Painful muscle spasms in the lower back or neck, due to spine instability. The body may cause spasms in an attempt to stabilize the vertebrae.1
Cervical Disc Disease
Cervical disc disease is the same condition as degenerative disc disease, but refers specifically to disc degeneration that occurs in the cervical spine. The cervical spine is made up of the first seven vertebrae and is located in the neck. Because of this, the symptoms felt will be specific to this area and different from symptoms felt when degenerated discs are located in the lumbar spine.
The common symptoms of cervical disc disease include:
- Neck pain that is felt when the head is held upright or when it is moved. Like the symptoms previously mentioned, it may be relieved by lying down or reclining.
- Osteophytes or bone spurs may develop around the affected spinal disc or discs, causing pain, difficulty moving the neck, or even nerve compression.
- Burning, tingling, numbness, and pain in the back of the head, the neck, arms, and hands. This is due to the fact that these areas are all affected by the cervical nerve roots.
- Headaches stemming from these issues with cervical spinal discs.
Lumbar Disc Disease
Just as degenerative discs located within the cervical spine will mainly affect that area of the body, degenerative discs located within the lumbar spine will largely affect the thighs, legs, and buttocks. The lumbar spine is made up of 5 vertebrae located in the lower back, and common symptoms of disc degeneration in this area of the spine include:
- Back pain that may be felt sporadically or steadily and may be made worse by coughing, sneezing, standing for a long period of time, or movement in general.
- Painful spasms in the back muscles due to spine instability.
- Pain that starts in the back or near the buttocks and travels down the leg to the foot or calf due to inflammation or irritation of the sciatic nerve.
- Weakness in the leg muscles.
- Numbness of the leg or foot.
- Reflex issues at the knee or ankle.
- Issues in bladder or bowel function.
Although degenerative disc disease is a serious condition that can cause significant pain, there are many steps that can be taken to prevent its development. Medical advancements are also giving patients more treatment options with higher likelihoods of success, making the outlook positive for people living with degenerative disc disease.
- Felman, A. (2018, January 17). Degenerative disc disease: Causes and treatment. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/266630#symptoms
