ehealthyland.com

Cervical degenerative disc disease is often a common scapegoat for a variety of misdiagnosed back pain conditions. Degenerative disc disease is a ridiculous name for this condition, since it is not a disease at all. It is a normal part of aging and it affects people almost universally as they get older. DDD is rarely the exclusive cause of serious chronic back pain or other symptoms. Detailed information about the full range of cervical spinal conditions can be found in my neck pain section. Cervical disk disease refers to a gradual deterioration of the spongy disks in the top part of the spine.

The cervical intervertebral discs are thinner than other regional spinal discs. This makes degeneration and loss of disc height more noticeable even at lesser amounts. The cervical discs wear faster than discs in the rest of the spine, except the lower lumbar discs. This occurs due to the amount of movement generated in the cervical region from the constant bending and flexing of the neck. Noticeable cervical disc degeneration is normal to experience by the age of 30 and may begin far earlier.As we age, the discs in our cervical spine begin to flatten and wear down. When a disc flattens, it forces the vertebrae closer together, which can put added stress not only on the disc itself, but also on the surrounding joints, muscles, and nerves. This process is called Cervical Disc Degeneration, and can lead to several painful conditions.

As a patient, the first question is obvious. “What is degenerative disease of the spine?” In all honesty, the academic leaders of the spine world are currently pondering this same question. What we mean is that spine doctors can recognize and treat degenerative disorders of the spine but are often unclear how the disorder actually arises except to attribute it to age. To date, most theories about how the spine degenerates remain just that-theories. Although these theories are often well thought out and reasonable, it is exceedingly difficult to prove them. Regardless, it is worthwhile trying to understand them, as they are the best explanation we have to explain degenerative disease of the spine at this time.

Degenerative disease of the spine refers to a breakdown of the normal architecture of the various components of the cervical spine. Normally, the neck is very flexible. As you may demonstrate on yourself, the neck allows the head to rotate from side to side nearly 180 degrees, to flex forward to touch your chin to your chest, and extend backwards to almost touch the back of the head to your upper back, as well as bend your head toward your shoulder (and all ranges in between these basic motions). These motions are afforded by the various joints of the cervical spine.