Things to Avoid With Degenerative Disc Disease

If you’ve been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease (DDD), it’s important to know you’re not alone. Over 40 percent of people over 40 have one or more degenerated spinal discs. This risk increases with age—by age 60, about 60 percent of your peers likely have a degenerated disc. However, DDD isn’t exclusive to older adults; over a third of individuals aged 20 or above also have at least one degenerated disc. Despite its prevalence, disc desiccation should be taken seriously. Understanding what to avoid can help manage the condition effectively.

Disc degeneration is a vague term. It does not necessarily refer to a slipped or herniated disc, nor does it mean that the disc is on the verge of dislocating, as during spondylolisthesis. Instead, DDD refers to any disc that has significantly lost volume due to dehydration, tissue degeneration, and wear-and-tear. The disc is still there, and it isn’t in any state of acute distress. But it has been weathered by physical stress, genetics, and lifestyle factors.

The weaker a disc becomes, the less it can do its job as a flexible joint between spines and a shock absorber for your body, putting you at more significant risks. These risks include disc herniation, swelling, spinal stenosis, and accompanying neuropathic pain as the nerve roots around your spine face compression. There are essential dos and don’ts to keep your discs healthy, improve your pain symptoms, speed up recovery, and minimize the risk of related disorders, from osteoarthritis to painful bone spurs.

Things to Avoid With Degenerative Disc Disease

The human spine is composed of bony vertebrae and interwoven spinal discs. These tough yet flexible discs have a more rigid outer shell and a soft center. Over time, these discs lose their flexibility with dehydration and tissue degeneration – because there’s relatively little blood flow going to these discs, they adapt to stress very slowly and don’t heal quickly.

Things that further reduce or slow blood flow, reduce tissue regeneration, reduce bone density, and actively impair or stress a disc are things to avoid with degenerative disc disease. They lead to more pain and related disorders, such as disc herniation or a narrowed spinal canal. Here are a few quick examples:

Excessive Caffeine Consumption

Caffeine is the most consumed psychoactive drug in the world. In relatively low doses, there’s nothing wrong with it. It seems to play a role in improving longevity and can help you improve your blood pressure with old age. But among its side effects, caffeine can leech the calcium deposits in your bone and actively undermine your spinal health. If your diet is not very calcium- and vitamin D-rich to begin with, or if you have a family history of osteoporosis, consider reducing your caffeine intake and see if it helps.

Smoking

Between cigarettes and coffee, coffee is undoubtedly the lesser evil when it comes to bone health, back pain, and spinal conditions. The problem with smoking isn’t just general bone health and bone density – smoking actively inhibits cartilage growth and rapidly contributes to the deterioration of your cartilage. Quit smoking as soon as you can.

A Low-Quality Diet

The media tells us repeatedly that the standard American diet is unhealthy, but if you haven’t changed the way you eat just yet, you should treat a diagnosis of DDD as your wake-up call. Adjusting your diet to reduce processed meals and greatly stock up on fresh leafy greens, legumes, and a greater variety of colored fruits and vegetables can do wonders for overall health, including your spine and general bone health.

Explosive Contact Sports

Exercise is the ideal medicine for degenerative disc disease, but we must be picky with what we do and how we do it. Avoid explosive high-impact sports, including combat sports/martial arts and football. Joint-friendly sports like slow hikes and swimming will improve your pain. If you enjoy weightlifting, be careful with your load management, and work with a rehab specialist or an experienced coach.

Don’t take things too easy. It’s generally a good idea to progress with your physical strength, increase your muscle mass, and get stronger. This helps to reduce the daily stress and impact on your spine and joints. But there’s a line between constructive progression and physical degeneration.

Sedentary Living

Rest is good. But too much rest can actively hamper your recovery and make the subsequent injury or pain episode more likely. Don’t let a diagnosis of DDD keep you on the couch or in bed. You need to support your spine with a healthier diet and better movement rather than allowing your body further stagnate. Talk to your doctor about a personalized exercise plan to help rehabilitate yourself and build strength.

Tips for Degenerative Disc Disorder

While we’ve gone over the things you shouldn’t do, let’s recap the things you should do:

• Strengthen Your Core: Regular exercises that build core strength can support your spine and reduce the impact of disc desiccation.
• Maintain a Healthy Weight: Excess weight adds stress to your spine. Managing your weight through diet and exercise can alleviate additional strain on your discs.
• Prioritize Quality Sleep: Never underestimate the power of good sleep. If you struggle to sleep well with your back pain, check in with your doctor and find ways to help address your sleep hygiene.
• Adopt a Balanced Diet: Increase your intake of lean proteins, fish, leafy greens, and legumes. If you have digestive issues, a nutritionist can help create a personalized dietary plan.
• Seek Early Medical Advice: Don’t ignore new or worsening symptoms. Early intervention can significantly improve your condition and prevent complications.
• Address Emergency Symptoms Promptly: If you experience severe symptoms like fever, loss of mobility, or bowel/bladder control issues, seek immediate medical attention.

In Summary

The body is not the most fragile thing in the world. Given the proper factors, you can slow your degenerative disc disease and augment your pain significantly through lifestyle interventions. As the name implies, a degenerative disc disease is not a reversible condition. You will be unable to renew lost cartilage or make your spine as good as new. But that does not mean that the best to hope for is that things don’t get worse.

While degenerative disc disease usually implies that a disc will continue to deteriorate over time, the pain gets better as your condition stabilizes. There are many things to avoid with degenerative disc disease mentioned earlier that can slow the process and help reduce the chances of pain further down the road. The right approach to your physical and mental health can significantly improve your condition and help you feel better than you might have felt in many years.

If your doctor tells you you have a degenerative disc disease, know that not all is lost. You can do plenty of things to help improve your symptoms at home. When all else is said and done, professional treatments can also help address and reduce pain (through localized interventions, such as nerve blocks and anti-inflammatory injections) and step in in emergencies to stabilize the spine (through fusion surgery, for example).