Degenerative disc disease is a name used to refer to certain changes in the spinal discs when a person ages, hence it is not really an illness. The spinal discs are compressible discs which are soft and attach each of bone in the vertebrae to each other to make up the entire spine. The discs act as shock absorbers allowing for the bending, twisting and flexing of the spine.

The degenerative disc disease happens anywhere on the spine although oftentimes it happens on the discs located on the cervical region or the neck and the lumbar region or the lower back. Any changes in the discs will result to pain on certain parts of the body. The following are some irregularities in the spine that cause pain:• Herniated disc – an irregular swelling or the bursting of the spinal disc. Here is more information on herniated cervical disc symptoms, treatment.• Osteoarthritis – the cessation of the cartilage which are the ones protecting and cushioning the joints. Find out more information about the symptoms and treatment of osteoarthritis • Spinal stenosis – the condition in which the spinal canal is narrowedThe conditions stated above exert pressure on the nerves and the spinal cord. this in turn causes pain to certain body parts. If left unmanaged, they may affect normal functioning of the nerves.

As mentioned before, degenerative disc disease is not a disease. this condition naturally happens to people, particularly when they are aging as this is considered a part of the cycle. The changes one could anticipate are:• Small cracks or tears in the capsule or annulus fibrosus, which is the outer layer of the spinal disc. The nucleus pulposus, the jelly-like substance within the disc, could seep through the cracks and tears on the outer shell. this leads to swelling of the disc, rupture and even broken disc that release fragments.• The nucleus pulposus may lose fluid or dry up due to aging. when this happens it reduces the ability of the discs to absorb impact, resulting to rigidity of the spine. because there is loss of fluid in the inner layer, the disc will become thinner, resulting to shorter distance between vertebrae.

Individuals who do heavy work and repetitive lifting of heavy loads, those who smoke and those who are overweight have higher chances of developing degenerative disc disease. an accident that leads to injury to the spine may catalyze the progress of this condition.

The stability of the spine degenerates when the space and the padding of the vertebrae grow thinner. The body reacts by creating osteophytes or bone spurs. these osteophytes exert pressure on pressure on the nerve roots and the spinal cord resulting to pain and eventual nerve function abnormality.

The symptoms of degenerative disc disease may be neck pain or back pain but overall they differ from one person to another. Majority of the people with this condition feel no pain while others who have the same disc damage to the spine may have serious pain that can impede their daily functioning. Likewise, the location of the pain highly depends on which disc is affected. If the disc located in the neck is the one with the problem, it may result to arm pain or neck pain; while if the affected disc is at the lower back it will result to back pain, leg pain or buttocks pain. The pain may grow worse during activities such as twisting, turning the back or neck, reaching up or bending over. It may begin when one is involved in a serious injury like a car incident; mild injury like a fall from low height or normal movement which highly happens when one bends over on the floor to pick up something. there are also other cases where pain happens for no reason at all.

The basics procedures are done to diagnose degenerative disc disease. first, the doctor will interview you about your medical history and conduct physical examination. Depending on how severe the symptoms are, you may need to do a series of tests. Oftentimes, he/she will also inquire about your family’s medical history. Other questions include past or recent injuries, illnesses and symptoms; previous treatments, medications, habits or activities that may result to pain in the legs, buttocks, back, arms or neck. The physical examination for degenerative disc disease involves:• Checking the scope of motion of the affected area and the movement which causes pain.• Confirming the existence of any tingling sensation, numbness or weakness on the affected area as well as any changes in reflexes.• Checking for other conditions including infection, tumors or fractures.

X-ray, CT scans or Magnetic Resonance Imaging may be ordered if the preliminary assessments reveal no conclusive evidence of any serious condition.

Some home remedies are employed to help relieve pain, such as applying heat or warm compress, putting ice or cold compress. Putting cold compress is recommended for the first 48 hours after symptoms appear to reduce any swelling and pain. Heat is applied after this period to initiate proper blood circulation to promote healing. The use of medications such as acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs which includes aspirin or naproxen sodium like Aleve, may be prescribed by the doctor. Aspirin is not recommended to be given to patients under 20 years of age to prevent the risk of acquiring Reye syndrome. Tylenol, an example of acetaminophen helps relieve the pain. Doctors may prescribe stronger medications to you if the above mentioned are not effective.

If the conservative treatment options do not work for you, you should seek professional medical aid and other alternatives. more treatments are available for degenerative disc disease, although these depend whether the damaged disc is the result of a previous or recent condition such as spinal stenosis, herniated disc or osteoarthritis. Doctors may recommend patients to do stretching or strengthening exercises and undergo physical therapy. there are other cases where surgery is needed when the condition is more severe. The surgery usually includes removing the disc that is damaged. Other cases involve permanently joining or fusing the bone in order to protect the spinal cord. Artificial discs are oftentimes recommended to replace the removed discs.

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Cervical radiculopathy is an inflammation of the nerve in the cervical spine from the exit point which is called neuroforamen. most neck pain does go away after several weeks but there are some neck pain that can persist and may radiate to the arms and shoulders. Cervical radiculopathy symptoms may include weakness, numbness or pain in various areas of the hand and arm. Common conditions that are generally linked to cervical radiculopathy include:

Cervical Spondylosis

This condition is the continuing tear and wears changes due to advance age. this is often referred to as degenerative spine disease. most of this condition can be identified through the traditional X-rays and other imaging examinations. Conditions like calcification of disc, narrowing of disc space, bulging of the shape of the disc and bone spurs can be clearly seen in this imaging device.

Cervical Disc Herniation

The disc is located in between the vertebrae. this disc consist of two layers that is the outer layer which is tough and the inner layer which is made up of a gel like material. an injury to the outer layer may change the shape of the disc especially if the inner material is pushed out to the outer layer. this condition is called disc herniation. When this injured disc compressed a nerve then it can result to pain.

Diagnosis of Cervical Radiculopathy

Evaluation and Diagnosis of Cervical Radiculopathy always starts with a physical examination by the doctor. With a thorough and careful physical examination the condition may be detected along of course with the symptoms of the patient.

Also traditional X-rays and MRI will show the bony spur formation in the nerve foramen. CT scans and MRI can show soft tissue structures like the nerves, discs which cannot be seen in X rays thus most conditions can be accurately diagnose or identified in this scans. most important thing is these findings will be associated with the patient’s symptoms. Unfortunately there is a finding that a high rate of spondylosis and disc herniation occurs in individual who never experience any symptoms at all (J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1991)

Non-Surgical Treatment

There are several studies that support for the non-surgical treatment of cervical radiculopathy. there are studies that showed that cervical radiculopathy improves without resorting to surgery at all. In fact two studies showed that cervical radiculopathy has significantly improved using non-invasive form of treatment after repeated of scans ( Spine Journal, 2003). other studies showed significant improvement of cervical radiculopathy treated with non-surgical therapies like using anti-inflammatory, epidural steroid injections, physical therapy, oral corticosteroids and brace ( Eur.Spine J 1996, Spine, 1996)

Fortunately most patients recover from cervical radiculopathy using the non-surgical form of treatment although there are instances that pain still continues despite the traditional treatment. if this is the case then surgical treatment may be recommended