Gravity / What is Degenerative Disc Disease? What can a chiropractor do about it?

9.8m/s^2 [Gravity]

It’s like death and taxes, inevitable facts of life that we can’t avoid.

Research shows that 71% of men and 77% of women <50 years old have Degenerative Disc Disease. Those numbers jump to over 90% for both sexes over the age of 50.

Furthermore; MRI studies have shown that for healthy individuals who don’t have a single symptom of disc issues can indeed have disc bulges, herniations, and decreased disc height. Meaning that these findings are purely incidental and don’t always warrant an immediate intervention.

So what does that mean? It means that disc degeneration could be considered a normal process of aging. Gravity.

It also means that if you usually feel great and suddenly have a bout of low back pain that it isn’t necessarily related to your lack of disc height. It’s okay to feel low back pain - and it could tell us a lot about how you’re lifting, your core balance, as well as how you carry yourself day to day. These can all result in generalized, run of the mill, low back pain.

So if you happen to see someone who shoots an MRI or X Ray and tells you that you need to stop running, lifting heavy weights, or playing with your kids because you have “Degenerative Disc Disease” you tell them “so what should I do about your wrinkly face?”

Questions? Comments? Have you been told you have a ‘bad back?’ Let us know!