The discs between your vertebrae are critical to your mobility. They serve as your body’s shock absorbers and support your strength and flexibility.
As we take more trips around the sun, however, our discs become dehydrated — not like during the days of your youth, when they were about 80% water. That moisture is what keeps them functional, though, so when it’s compromised, uncomfortable symptoms arise. Discs also degrade over time due to wear and tear.
Dr. Benjamin Cohen’s expertise, experience, and caring approach make him highly sought after. He’s not just invested in diagnosing and treating patients, either, but in educating them so they can minimize or prevent spinal problems, such as degenerative disc disease.
We noted that your discs are protective. This is because they’re flexible, with a soft interior and a sturdier exterior. Healthy discs contribute to preventing a range of painful conditions, including:
Though disc degeneration is a natural part of getting older, there are things that you can do to slow the progression of disc wear and tear.
Adopting certain lifestyle choices can go a long way in protecting your discs.
If you’re carrying extra pounds, try to shed this weight. It’s a strain on your discs.
Eating an anti-inflammatory diet with plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, lean protein, and healthy fats like olive oil and avocados, combined with daily physical exercise, helps the number on the scale go down. A sedentary lifestyle is associated with degenerative disc disease.
Keeping your core strong is also important, so including exercises like planks and situps in your routine is beneficial. Engaging in low-impact exercises, like swimming and walking, is another way to give your spine some TLC.
Proper posture is good for your discs because it evenly distributes your weight along your spine.
When you’re standing, try to stand erect, with a straight up-and-down form, and when you’re sitting, align your cervical (upper spine), thoracic (middle spine), and lumbar (lower spine) areas properly — meaning don’t slouch.
Though there are a thousand reasons we know smoking is bad for our health, from the preservation of our lungs to keeping our skin healthier, here’s another one: Smoking starves your discs of blood that’s filled with nutrients, prevents disc repair, and actually speeds up degeneration.
Lifting something the wrong way is harmful to your discs, too, and can lead to herniation or other issues.
When you lift, use your legs rather than straining your back, and keep your back straight. Also, know when you should ask for help. Don’t be stubborn and think you can lift anything — you could be setting yourself up for injury.
Keeping yourself well hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids helps keep your discs hydrated, flexible, and healthy.
Drink at least eight cups of water each day — and water is the preferred beverage over soda and other caffeinated drinks like coffee.
Your spine will thank you for taking good care of your discs. You’ll notice:
This means that you’ll have a reduced likelihood of coping with pain that’s anywhere from intermittent to constant and debilitating.
If you didn’t learn about these techniques to improve your disc health until it was too late and you’re living with degenerative disc disease pain and movement limitations, Dr. Cohen can help.
He starts with conservative treatments like pain medication, physical therapy, steroid injections, and electrical stimulation, or e-stim treatment, which
If your symptoms are advanced and severe, surgery may be necessary. Dr. Cohen might recommend spinal fusion, where he joins two vertebrae together with the help of a bone graft (which can be real bone or a fusion cage containing bone growth-encouraging biochemicals) and metal hardware.
The other option is artificial disc replacement, which protects your ability to move your spine.
If at all possible, Dr. Cohen performs minimally invasive surgery, which requires smaller incisions and is gentler on your body. Surgeries done this way offer patients faster healing, less pain, scarring, and bleeding, and a reduced risk of post-surgical infection.
Please call our office to schedule an appointment and learn more, or reach out to us via our website.
