The most common degenerative disc disease symptoms include pain in neck or the back. Other areas of the body may be affected as well, though these areas may not always be painful. For example, degenerative disc disease symptoms may include tingling or numbness in an individual’s legs or arms. Sometimes the tingling is accompanied by pain; other times, it is not. It usually begins to affect people in their 30s and 40s, and may or may not worsen with age.
The name degenerative disc disease is really a misnomer. It is not actually a disease, and it often does not get progressively worse over time; in fact, it sometimes improves. Degenerative disc disease is a medical term used to describe what happens to the discs of the spine as a person ages. The discs separate the vertebrae of the spine and work as the spine’s shock absorbers, letting it twist and bend with movement. Although degenerative disc disease usually affects the spine, it typically affects the neck and lower back as well.
There are some common degenerative disc disease symptoms that are rather typical for most people affected by the condition. For example, if a healthy 30- or 40-year-old individual has degenerative disc disease, the pain should not be severe or continuous. If it is extreme and never lets up, then the patient’s doctor may want to consider other medical diagnoses. Since the condition is usually related to physical activity, the flare up of pain often occurs after periods of physical activity. After the flare up, the pain will typically either go back to a low level pain or entirely disappear.
One of the problems with the condition is that the degenerative disc disease symptoms vary for each person. For example, some people will have a high level of pain after any physical exercise, while other people will experience no pain at all. Generally, degenerative disc disease symptoms are usually felt in the back or neck, but some people with the condition only have pain in an arm, leg, or buttock.
There are some less common degenerative disc disease symptoms. For example, lower back pains are sometimes more severe after periods of sitting down. In addition, people affected with the condition may notice that walking or running may feel better than sitting or standing for long periods of time. Most people with the condition will feel better if they can change their position from time to time as well. Also, certain movements, such as twisting, bending, or lifting may cause the condition to flare up.