What You Need to Know About Degenerative Disc Disease Treatment in Texas
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As you age, you’re closer to needing degenerative disc disease treatment in Texas. You may also need it due to a spinal injury.
The Function of Spinal Discs
Your backbone helps you stand and sit upright. It also allows you to bend down. It provides support when you carry things as well.
Also known as the human spine, it is made up of 33 bones. Out of those 33 bones, the upper 24 ones are movable.
In between those bones are spinal discs. The discs act as a shock absorber when adjacent bones move.
Without those discs, the bones will rub against each other as you move. The constant friction can trigger pain. It will also weaken the bones sooner.
Disc Problems and Causes
As you grow older, your bones become brittle. Your spinal discs will become thinner and weaker as well. There’s nothing you can do to stop these. However, you can prevent the early onset of degenerative disc diseases.
One of the first things you have to do is know what triggers such conditions aside from age. Spinal injury is among the common causes. Such an injury could be due to obesity or improper posture. Accidents and assaults are other potential reasons.
The injury may cause the spinal disc to slip. The said condition is known as a herniated disc. Weightlifting is a risk factor for this disorder.
Signs and Symptoms
Backache is a common symptom of disc disease. In many cases, the pain is isolated or intensified on the lower back. The neck area is also prone to disc-related pain.
The discomfort could extend to your legs as well. After all, your lower limbs will carry more weight as your back can’t provide proper support.
Some patients don’t feel any pain though. However, they often have poor posture. They tend to move slowly, too.
It’s also possible that you’ll experience numbness on your back. This is one of the symptoms of spinal stenosis. The said condition is characterized by having narrower spaces between the discs.
Instead of discs, joints connect your spine to the other bones in your body. For example, sacroiliac joints connect your pelvis and lower backbone.
Like in spinal discs, wear and tear damage those joints, too. It’s also worth noting that too little movement can cause SI joint diseases. Sacroiliitis, or inflammation of the SI joints, is the most common one. Painful bowel movement is a symptom of said condition.
Treatment for Degenerative Disc Diseases
Pain relievers and massage can soothe back pain. You can use over-the-counter drugs or homemade remedies. These treatment options don’t provide long-lasting relief though.
These are only ideal if the discomfort is due to prolonged activity. Think of backaches caused by an hour of gardening or house cleaning.
Physical therapy is another treatment option for back problems. More often than not, it’s intended to manage signs and symptoms. Your doctor may also recommend chiropractic therapy to deal with the pain and posture problem.
Surgeries may be needed for serious conditions like disc problems. The traditional way involves opening your entire back. These days, there are also minimally invasive operations.
Due to the different options, you may wonder what is the best treatment for degenerative disc disease. It actually depends on the cause and severity of the problem.
If the disc problem is due to a tumor, it’s only right to opt for spinal tumors treatment in Plano Texas. It usually involves minimally invasive back surgery to remove the tumors.
In case some tumors remain, chemotherapy and radiation therapy may be applied. Once the tumors are totally removed, you may undergo minimally invasive disc replacement surgery.
In spinal stenosis treatment in Dallas, the spaces between discs are enlarged first. Afterwards, the damaged discs are replaced. Replacements are also done in herniated discs treatment in Plano.
Fusion is among the sacroiliac joint disorders treatment Plano TX. It’s also a form of minimally invasive surgery. As its name suggests, it involves combining affected bones. That way, they’ll no longer rub against each other and cause inflammation.
Why Minimally Invasive Surgery
Between surgery and physical therapy, the former is more expensive. Yet, you may only need to undergo once or twice.
The latter requires multiple sessions. It tends to be more costly in the long run. Moreover, it may not be as efficient as surgery when it comes to treating serious conditions. Physical therapy is more of a complementary medicine anyway.
In the past, any surgery done on the back could be deemed as a major operation. It could affect the tiny nerves in the area after all. Damaged nerves in the spinal area may trigger incontinence and paralysis.
Over time, better surgical tools and procedures were developed. As a result, surgeons are now more efficient in diagnosing disc diseases. They can also do minimally invasive surgeries.
A minimally invasive surgery restricts the operation to a small part. As such, the procedure may only require a few hours. It’s way less painful and requires a shorter recovery period, too. Its traditional counterpart may need a few months of rest. In the former, a month or two is enough. Another good thing about this surgery is that it leaves a less noticeable scar.
Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery of Texas provides treatment for many kinds of spinal diseases. Call us at (972) 244-3491 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Scott Kutz, MD or to ask about degenerative disc disease treatment in Texas.
