re: Low Back Pain - Degenerative Disc Disease - Checking In

I have been diagnosed. From the way the dr. explained to me, it happens over time but also as you get older, the disks harden therefore kind of takes care of itself. At 34 I’m just at the middle ground where the disks are thinning but haven’t hardened enough yet to ease the pain.

Thanks for the information, and sorry youre having to deal with that. I am going all in on PT, just started a week ago and can already tell a difference in my legs. So I do my exercises two times a day at home and will most likely continue these indefinitely. Hopefully over the next five weeks I will see considerable improvement.

Ughhh. I’m positive this is what I’m dealing with. Constant lower back pain for over a year now. Feels like a pinched nerve. Some days are better than others, but I’m always aware of it & know it’s a matter of time before it hurts again.

I’ve been putting off going to the doctor because I feel like a hypochondriac when I go for that kind of stuff. What kind of doctor did you go to to get diagnosed? Your primary doc? An ortho doc?

I'm 47 and have had it for years. There are decent days and bad. The best advice I can give are stretches, physical therapy, and an inversion table. Do what the PT tells you. I didn't at first, but when I actually started listening and following through, it made lots of difference. I've been functioning mostly normally for quite a while now. I've avoided injections and surgery with simple stretches and exercises, and using an inversion table.

Go see primary and he can refer you.

Yes go to your primary, I went straight to an Ortho and got my diagnosis. Good luck, I hope its just something mild that can be remedied for you.

Been dealing with DDD in L4/L5 and L5/S1 for over ten years. Good days and bad. Has been acting up bad for the last week so going to get my semi-annual steroid shot tomorrow. They do help , as does an inversion table and working core excercises as much as possible to keep the mobility, but sometimes it just decides to act up.

I'm very active as far as hunting/fishing/yardwork etc so it's not just going to go away, especially at the double nickles, so just doing anything I can to prolong until it's time for the probable inevitable surgery. Problem is I have yet to find a single person who has said that ANY surgical option remedied their pain. If anyone one here has been lucky in that regard I would love to hear their experience.


Oh....and Jack and Knob Creek on the weekends helps a bit as well.

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ALt - Thanks for your reply, I just recently found this out that its just normal wear and tear. I have three bulging disc in my back which seem to be causing some mild back pain and tingling in my legs.I have had no injuries that I can recall and am only 28. My doctor didn't touch on it much and said physical therapy should help me out but I am curious as to the long term prognosis as to whether this will just keep worsening over the years or can it stay constant with the right lifestyle changes.

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Do yourself a favor and listen to episode 20 of the Barbell Medicine podcast.

Also, read this: Starting Strength

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Here's another one: Your back hurts, so you have to rest it, stretch it, go to the chiropractor for 30 visits, and then get your “core” stronger with situps and various odd-looking movements performed on a balance ball, and if that doesn't work, surgery will. The reality is that your back hurts because you are a bipedal, upright human over the age of 30, you can't alter this fact, and the best way to make it stop hurting is to make it stronger with squats and deadlifts. Deadlifts and barbell squats for a low back in chronic pain sounds like the stupidest idea that has ever appeared in print, I know. It flies in the face of The Conventional Wisdom. The fact is that it works nearly 100% of the time if you do it correctly, and that 90% of the time a stronger back not only stops hurting but also returns you to full unencumbered activity in less than a month

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I watched an infomercial on this and the theory made sense to me.

I’ve had one disk replacement (cadaver bone) surgery about 10 years ago and I’ve been happy with the result. I’m hoping the inversion table prevents more surgeries.