Did you know that millions of Americans deal with back or neck pain each day? In a 2019 report, nearly 60% of American adults reported back pain.
The skilled team of spine health specialists at World Medical Group dba Neuropathy & Pain Centers of Texas is certainly familiar with these numbers, as we see scores of patients who are struggling with either back or neck pain.
While many different issues can lead to back and neck pain, one of the most common culprits is degenerative change in your spinal discs. So, let’s take some time to discuss how to improve the health of your discs as you age to avoid issues like herniated discs and sciatica.
The biggest problem facing the 23 discs that are spaced along your spine is the degenerative changes that occur as you age. By degeneration, we’re referring to discs that lose moisture and become brittle, making them flatter and more prone to damage, such as herniation.
We group these changes under degenerative disc disease (DDD), which really isn’t a disease in the traditional sense, but more of a description of age-related changes.
To put some numbers to the problem, by the age of 60, more than 90% of people will have some degeneration in their discs.
While there’s not much we can do about the natural aging process, we can take steps to promote disc health as we age.
Let’s look at some ways to support your discs as you get older:
Your discs act as spacers between your vertebrae. They also provide shock absorption and range of motion in your spine. If you’re carrying too much weight, you place more pressure on these discs, which causes them to degenerate faster.
So, a great step toward better disc health and less back and neck pain is to keep your weight within healthy ranges (under 25 BMI).
Another fantastic way to support your discs is to strengthen the muscles that surround your spine. In doing this, you spread the workload out and enlist other tissues — your muscles — to handle some of the burden. These exercises should include not only your back muscles, but also your abdominal muscles, for support from the front and back of your body.
As you get older, we want you to rely less on your back for lifting and use your legs instead. So, anytime you’re bending down, see if you can't crouch and use your legs to get up.
If you smoke or vape, you’re compromising your blood flow due to blood vessel constriction. And your discs need good blood flow to get valuable nutrients. So, add disc health to the long list of reasons you should quit smoking.
If you’ve been struggling with back or neck pain and the problem is showing no signs of going away, we want you to come see us sooner rather than later.
It’s important that we identify the core issue behind your pain so we can better focus on relieving your discomfort. For example, how we go about addressing muscle-related back pain and disc-related back pain may be different, so it’s a good idea to understand what you’re up against first.
With a few lifestyle changes and quick action when pain develops, you can take some very important steps toward preventing back or neck pain from interfering with your life.
If you have more questions about disc-related back and neck pain, we’re here to help. Simply call or message one of our offices in Waco, Arlington, Wichita Falls, or Fort Worth, Texas, today to schedule a consultation.
