Degenerative Disc Disease and Center For Pain Management
Degenerative disc disease may cause debilitating lower back pain. This can even compel you to miss out from work, take narcotic pain-killer medications, along with giving a tough time coping up with your daily chores. In case you have significant lower back pain for quite some time now, then the possibility of degenerative disc disease cannot be over ruled. You must visit expert spine specialists at your nearest Center for pain management for the right diagnosis and treatment. When you first consult a pain management doctor about low back pain, the doctor will pose a series of questions to you. This will help him to delineate whether or not the pain is coming from a Spinal cord injury.
Each patient is evaluated intensely so that the correct diagnosis is made. The doctors may ask the patients to get X-rays of their low back region. In a degenerative disc disease the X-ray will show a loss of height of that disk space. So the X-ray report will serve as an inference that the patient suffers from Lower back pain disease or not. Another test, known as MRI can also show disc degeneration very nicely. The T-2 images on MRI will show a black area with a degenerative disc. When the water in the disc leaves the disk space, that area will appear black in the MRI test. This is why degenerative disc disease sometimes is also referred as the 'black disc disease'. Another thing that the doctors at the Center for pain management can be seen on MRI is a tear in the outer part of the disk. This may be referred as a high-intensity zone and can indicate a reason for why the patient has such severe low back pain. A CAT scan is usually not indicated in a patient with degenerative disc disease. If the patient has disease and surgery is being considered for it, then a discogram is conducted by the medical experts. A discogram is not a procedure for pain relief; rather it is only done for diagnostic purposes. Degenerative disc disease affects more than 40% of people over the age of 40. The doctors at the pain management clinics usually do not recommend surgery to their patients. Results of surgery having at best a 70% success rate is suggested only when all other treatment options are exhausted. People who are overweight tend to exert extra weight on the degenerative disc. So the doctors design a weight loss and exercise regime to help such patients lose those extra pounds, and thus get some relief from lower back ache. They also suggest certain life style modifications and encourage patients to quit smoking, as smoking can increase their risk of cancer and emphysema. Moreover nicotine is a vaso-constricting drug, and can decrease the blood flow which is needed to bring in healing oxygen and nutrition to the entire body. Core stabilization and lumbar strengthening form integral part of physical therapy that is offered to patients suffering from Degenerative disc disease at Center for pain management. It can strengthen the muscles surrounding the spine, thereby reducing pressure on the painful.
Each patient is evaluated intensely so that the correct diagnosis is made. The doctors may ask the patients to get X-rays of their low back region. In a degenerative disc disease the X-ray will show a loss of height of that disk space. So the X-ray report will serve as an inference that the patient suffers from Lower back pain disease or not. Another test, known as MRI can also show disc degeneration very nicely. The T-2 images on MRI will show a black area with a degenerative disc. When the water in the disc leaves the disk space, that area will appear black in the MRI test. This is why degenerative disc disease sometimes is also referred as the 'black disc disease'. Another thing that the doctors at the Center for pain management can be seen on MRI is a tear in the outer part of the disk. This may be referred as a high-intensity zone and can indicate a reason for why the patient has such severe low back pain. A CAT scan is usually not indicated in a patient with degenerative disc disease. If the patient has disease and surgery is being considered for it, then a discogram is conducted by the medical experts. A discogram is not a procedure for pain relief; rather it is only done for diagnostic purposes. Degenerative disc disease affects more than 40% of people over the age of 40. The doctors at the pain management clinics usually do not recommend surgery to their patients. Results of surgery having at best a 70% success rate is suggested only when all other treatment options are exhausted. People who are overweight tend to exert extra weight on the degenerative disc. So the doctors design a weight loss and exercise regime to help such patients lose those extra pounds, and thus get some relief from lower back ache. They also suggest certain life style modifications and encourage patients to quit smoking, as smoking can increase their risk of cancer and emphysema. Moreover nicotine is a vaso-constricting drug, and can decrease the blood flow which is needed to bring in healing oxygen and nutrition to the entire body. Core stabilization and lumbar strengthening form integral part of physical therapy that is offered to patients suffering from Degenerative disc disease at Center for pain management. It can strengthen the muscles surrounding the spine, thereby reducing pressure on the painful.