I am 50 and have DDD for several years. Phase II currently. As I have been dealing with this for years, and the pain and discomfort associated with it, I disagree with your comment that it does not cause pain. I was in a high impact car accident in 1988 which I believe started it all. 10 years later I was seeing several doctors for the pain in my right shoulder, the kink always in my neck, the every day headaches. Now it's the feeling that my rib cage is being crushed from behind, and throbbing in the middle of my back. I have thoracic DDD, which reports say is not common, in addition to c5,c6, c7 (lower neck). I have sought physical therapy, massage, chiropractors, pain doctors with epidurals.. What I have found works the best for me is pain managment thru medications. It takes me hours to "get going" each day. It's a struggle to get up and move and get out of bed. After sitting for 20 minutes, I can't hardly get up, like I'm 90 yrs. old. My mom has DDD in her lumbar, in her late sixties and I don't feel that hers and mine are comparable. Hers is from aging, mine is from injury that showed up years later. I've experienced shooting pains down my arms, my whole hand numb and tingling. The frustation and depression that has to be dealt with in dealing with all these symptoms every day all day, in addition to trying to find a doctor who understands, is disheartening to say the least. The pharmacists who whisper and question your need for med, like you are an addict is something that no one should have to endure.
I had similar issues. What I thought was a severely pulled muscle in my back turned out to be two herniated discs in my neck. Mild numbness in the fingertips and top of my left hand developed after a few weeks then a nonstop pinched nerve pain in the shoulder started. At that point I was ready to have them amputate my arm to stop the pain. I ended up having two back surgeries recently and it seems to have been a success. I do however now feel pressure on a disc in the middle of my back due to the fusion of 3 vertebrae in the neck. I pray to God that disc in the middle of my back holds up. Overall I'm glad I had the surgery, really there was no other option. Maybe consider discussing with your dr the pros and cons of having surgery.
Dear Anonymous,
I can really sense, and relate to, your frustration. I also have DDD, have had a fusion (L5/s1), which was initially successful, but now I have ridiculous levels of pain. I apparently have other problems resulting from the DDD. For example, I now have facet arthritis, which can result from the low disk height from the DDD, scoliosis, from uneven wearing of the disks, and lots and lots of nerve pain. I also take several medications, which raise a few eyebrows, but are completely necessary for me to even function at all. I have been told I am "too young" to have this level of degeneration (I am 43) but obviously, I have something related to the original problem! My point is: Hang in there!! Please try to see other docs. Have them check for other things resulting from your original accident and DDD, which are causing you more pain. Don't give up. I know that it is easy to want to give up. I have to hear pep talks from others to simply keep going. If you can be encouraged to take one more step forward, to ask one more question, to seek out one more doc, then do it.
Please take good care of yourself!
i am 42 with similar issues and was told by my ortho doc that i should not have as much pain as i do! he "offered" to fuse my L5- s1 but said it may not help...i also have issues with L1-L4...L1 & 2 being the worse. when he showed me my MRI there are areas where the discs are pushing on my spinal cord so bad you cant even see it but im not suppose to have pain? i have had 2 sets of steroid shots which dont work very long for as much as i pay for them....i go to PT and im willing to try anything short of surgery at this point. i know i will need surgery eventually but i want to try to wait as long as i can. my DDD did start as aging but i think over the years i caused more damage because i was a CNA for 13 years and did alot of lifting. Good Luck to you! i am becoming frustrated by the way i have been treated by a few docs but i am going to continue to search because this is not going to get better it will just continue to get worse and i know i will never be 100% pain free but im hoping for some relief!
What if it isn't exactly a natural aging process, and one is experiencing pain at a very early age? My back first went out when I was 12, which later resulted in a number of visits to the chiropractor, MRIs, and physical therapists. I later learned that I had been suffering from DDD at my L4/L5/S1. I continued to see chiropractors, but it wasn't permanent relief. I am 21 now, and I feel that my pain has only gotten worse. My discs are now starting to bulge and tear, and they are putting pressure on my surrounding nerves, to the point where I constantly sharp pains down my legs. My bladder is also affected. I am trying to continue with routine stretches, and I did a series of decompression treatments. Is there anything else I can do? I don't want my back to completely go out before I get to 30!
I understand your situation well. I started having back pain in my teens, as well. I grew up in a family that didn't really coddle aches and pains, so I just learned to live with it. Really, it wasn't much of a big deal anyways...then.
By 21, I was knee-deep in chronic back pain. I would have bouts where I would get "stuck" if I tried to bend over. You know that 90 degree angle? It would be impossible to come back up...and painful to go all the way down. I'd wake up barely able to get out of bed during "flareups." I got very used to asking for steroid packs at the doc.
Then, I had my first child at 22, which exacerbated my issues quite a bit. Over the course of the next 4 years, I had three more children. My back was worse with some over others.
I had my first x-ray earlier this year, which showed "moderate to severe" DDD at various levels in lumbar and cervical spines. Just a month later, I ruptured two discs, almost simultaneously, resulting in tons of pain, numbness, and urinary incontinence. I actually have a little disc fragment that shot out during the herniations that is lodged against a nerve in my spine. My left leg and foot are numb, and I have to wear an AFO brace due to a foot drop. The pain is intermittent but severe...and frequent. I've been in PT for months, now. Ugh. Nothing changes. Scheduled for a laminectomy/discectomy in two weeks. They may want to do a fusion once they see what is going on.
I just turned 28 yrs old. My life has just started, and it already feels just about over.
My advice to you is to get started decompressing your discs NOW...however you can. Get an inversion table. Hang in water with a fun-noodle under your arms. Do aquatic physical therapy. I've been told my discs are dehydrated, as well, which may be a consequence of chronic dehydration (drinking too much tea/pop and not enough water). Yay.
My mom had a bad back as well, though. She couldn't work anymore by about 37 years old. She slept most of the time, honestly.
I can relate to all that. I too had back problems when I was younger, 14-15, when standing for long periods. I also had episodes of back pain that just showed up unexpectedly and I'd end up in that 90-degree position for a while. One time I ended up sitting by my bed in a prayer position for a few hours.
I herniated my disc at L5-S1, but I had a large chunk squeeze out that hit both sides of my nerves so it affected both my legs. I was left with no abiity to stand on my toes, so it was kind of like walking on stilts. i also had the bladder control issues. Thankfully, I worked for an orthopedist so he was able to see me straight away. Started w/ a steroid pack, which didn't help. I went to surgery pretty quickly.
Now, its about 6 yrs after the surgery and my back is shot. I have chronic pain and on medication around the clock. I have residual numbness due to L5-S1 nerve dmg down the back of both legs and in the saddle area (which makes sex and other things unenjoyable; can't feel a damn thing). Also have a loss of function, I can't stand on my toes, weakness, so I have a nice limp.
I too spend a lot of time sleeping. The pain takes a lot out of a person, never realized how much. I would spend my lunch breaks in a patient exam room sleeping, come home from work and sleep for a few hours, make dinner, then go back to sleep. I think my kids think I gave up on the world, and for a time I did. I was eventually let go from my job, I just couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't focus on my work, wasn't making it in on time, or at all. Can't tolerating the sitting required. Never realized how hard sitting could be on a person.
I don't think there's really anything you can do to prevent the dehydration of your discs, but always worth looking up. Maybe it's like a cartilage and could benefit from something that helps that. The inversion table and the pool are great ideas to help w/ the decompression and controlling the pain. I love sitting around in my pool.
I'm on the fence about DDD not causing pain. If the disc is degenerative, starts to bulge and tear, which in turn pokes the nerves and causes pain then I'm inclined to say that the degenerative disc causes pain. Anyone else?
my first back issue started when i was 12 also...im now 42 and having constant pain...one thing i've been told is if i have any issues with my bowel or bladder i should immediately go to the ER....every nerve in your back is responsible for different functions of the body and it sounds like the nerve that controls your bladder is being affected...i know this is an older post but i hope you have gotten that looked at!!
When I was 21 I was in a car accident and thats how the doctor informed me that I had DDD. I am now 34 and in cronic pain. when I was 19 i was 5' 8 3/4", at the age of 34 I am just at 5'6". I refuse to be on pain meds because i also have sever depression and anxity with a history of suisidal attempts. So I live every day in pain and I can't even get a job because of the restictions the doctors have on me. So for those of you that can manage through your days I wish I was you. I fight every day just to sit up, or go for a walk. is there any way that the government can work crap out so everyone has medical....? DDD progressed for me so quickly it has just been the last 6 years that I have been in chronic pain, it never bothered me before that. so I will keep doing what I have too to make it another day. good luck to the rest of you.
I have had lower back pain on and off for 22 years now most likely caused by being ejected in a rollover crash, landing flat of my back in the ditch, at age 16. Even tho I miracously jumped up and ran out of the ditch without even getting the breath knocked out of me, that is the year my back pain began, coming and going only when stressed or over worked.
Moving forward 17 years, I went back to my passion as a hairdresser and due to burning sensations and regular muscular back pain caused by standing for hours on a daily basis, I was finally prescribed muscle relaxers and was advised to take otc meds like Tylonol, Motrin & Alieve wich only upset my stomach and did very little for the pain.
Now 5 years later (3 months ago) I fell asleep on the interstate hitting a semi truck head on. Unbelieavably I somehow walked away with merely a sprained wrist caused by the airbag...or so I thought untill about 4 weeks later, my back has now given out completely. My pain is now constant and at a level 5-10 depending on the day. I recently had a MRI wich identified that I too had DDD, arthritis, 2 buldging lumbar disc with nerve compression, some cervical issues and 2 torn somethings I cant remember the name of.
It's only after my recent accident and MRI that I have finally been prescribed pain meds to manage my symptoms and now I too am dealing with all the nay-sayers about possible addiction to the meds. I find it interesting that the people who have something to say about it, are the people who have never dealt with it. So my thoughts are this...If my pain is chronic, what is wrong with taking meds long term to help deal with it if it works?
I just wish people could/would understand that there is a difference between "dependence or addiction" and "abuse" of pain meds. When the pain is chronic and treatment is long term you cant help but to depend on the meds for pain relief and you must know that some level of addiction is to be expected and inevidable. Its only when you take more meds than needed for pain or take meds when not needed it becomes "abuse".
I only post this in hope that if you are reading this and you have never dealt with long term or chronic pain it will help you to understand about the need and use of pain meds on a long term basis. So please, instead of whispering and pointing...try to be understanding. It's tough enough dealing with the physical pain without having to deal with the emotional pain of being shamed for trying to make a better life for ourselves.
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Thank you for explaining this. It clears up something I've been wondering about. When I was in a car accident a few years ago, they x-rayed my back. They told me that, other than some prior disc degeneration, my back was fine. I was still a bit stunned from the accident and didn't think to ask more questions. But later I wondered about it since I don't generally have a lot of back pain other than some low back pain when I'm on my feet for a long time. It's good to know it's a normal part of aging and doesn't necessarily result in pain.
Read my post. That's what I was told too. Give it 10 years and see where you are.