Degenerative disc disease or DDD is a condition where the disc, a fluid-filled sack, between the vertebrae begins to degenerate. It is more common in men over women. This condition affects the lumbar spine (lower back) and the cervical spine (neck). And when it affects one, it is very common that later it will affect the other, as an example, if it starts in the lower back, it does tend to later occur in the neck or vise versa.
The disc between the vertebrae is made up of 2 components. One is the fluid-filled sack that helps with shock absorption and helps with the vertebrae moving on top of each other by creating less friction. As for the outer layer, it is a fibrous tissue that protects and keeps the disc in place. This disc does degenerate as we get older due to friction and compression of the discs, however, in degenerative disc disease, the degeneration happens much more rapidly than in people who don’t have the condition. When this happens, the disc becomes thinner, making the vertebrae begin to touch each other, minimizing flexibility and potentially causing pain.
Some people are more susceptible to getting the condition. That can be because of their lifestyle, from having poor posture, to having repeated trauma to the back, such as lifting heavy items, especially if you are twisting while lifting items, or direct physical trauma in contact sports or vehicle accidents. There are still studies going on to find out all the reasons why people have DDD, including if genetics could also be a factor.
This condition isn’t reversible. There is, unfortunately, no cure, as the discs aren’t vascularized like other parts of the body. This means that it doesn’t have the same amount of blood supply, so it can’t get the nutrients that it would need to be able to heal. Because of this, there are 3 stages in this condition.
The first stage is the dysfunction stage where there is weakness, bulging, and minor tears. Pain can start at this stage but isn’t always present.
The second stage is the instability stage, where supporting structures in the disc become lax, making the movement at this level of the spine increase to abnormal amounts. It is during this stage that there is a higher chance of having a herniated disc. There is an increased chance of feeling pain during this stage if the disc pushes on the ligaments.
In the final stage, it is called the stabilization stage. In this stage the supporting tissues fibrose or harden, making movement even more difficult as the disc fuses, after this, the condition may spread to other levels in the spine.
Degenerative Disc Disease Treatments
Though there is no way to reverse DDD, there are ways to slow the condition down. This includes exercise routines, physiotherapy, and massage therapy.
One of the best exercise routines that you can have with DDD is swimming, as it allows you to keep moving without weight-bearing. This can also help with flexibility. At the same point, you can go for yoga classes, but it would be best to have a teacher who is used to having clients who have back injuries.
Massage for Degenerative Disc Disease
During a massage treatment for DDD, the main focus is to remove any factors that may cause more pressure on the spine. These include postural imbalances, spinal curvature dysfunctions, and the joints in the spine that either move too much or too little. The position of the pelvis can also affect the lumbar DDD and will be concentrated on. These sessions will incorporate working on trigger points, fascial restrictions, joint play for the joints that don’t move enough, manually stretching shortened muscles, and doing strengthening exercises.
Not all of this will be done on the first treatment, rather they will be spread out over several treatments, slowly adding more to the treatment to keep from overworking the system.
When it comes to DDD a routine massage maintenance program should be used and will be extremely helpful. This will help slow down the progression of the condition and help to keep you active with little to no pain. These routines will greatly depend on your lifestyle and the activities that you participate in. The more sedentary the lifestyle, the more sessions that you may need, as movement and flexibility are the main components in managing the condition.
A maintenance program can be having a massage every 2 months, up to once every 3-4 weeks. Depending on how you are progressing the maintenance program may be shortened or lengthened between sessions.