The importance of staying well-hydrated has gained a lot of attention over the last couple of decades — you need to drink enough water for optimal health, though it can be a struggle to ingest all those ounces each day.
Hydration is also important for your discs, but a natural part of getting older is that they, too, become dehydrated, unlike in your younger years, when they contained about 80% water.
With disc degeneration comes a variety of troublesome symptoms, including back pain, which can become debilitating. Your discs serve a critical purpose — they serve as your spine’s shock absorbers.
Dr. Benjamin Cohen provides customized, effective treatments to patients dealing with disc degeneration-related problems. Because he’s dedicated to truly improving your quality of life, he listens carefully and leaves no stone unturned in seeking solutions for patients and in designing treatment plans that get results.
Your discs are so important to your spinal health and movement, and they face more challenges throughout your life, in addition to the reduced hydration we mentioned earlier.
As you use your body for everyday tasks, work, and sports over the years, your discs experience unavoidable wear and tear. Even though your discs have a sturdy outer shell, they become weakened by small cracks and tears caused by overuse and lose their flexibility.
Degenerative disc disease is marked by:
These symptoms are the unfortunate results of disc compression and spinal instability.
Degenerative disc disease is also a risk factor for spinal stenosis, a challenging condition that develops when nerves are painfully compressed because of a narrowing of the spinal canal.
When you visit Dr. Cohen with these symptoms that negatively affect both your movement and overall quality of life, he understands that the problem is life-altering and never minimizes what you’re enduring.
Depending on your particular symptoms and circumstances, he may recommend conservative treatments at first, like:
If conservative treatments don’t do the trick, Dr. Cohen talks to you about a surgical solution.
One option is a procedure that allows your spine to continue to move well and flexibly, where he removes your damaged disc and replaces it with an artificial one.
Another option is for Dr. Cohen to remove your problematic disc and perform a spinal fusion. He applies a bone graft (either from actual bone containing living cells or biochemically grown cells via a fusion cage) between your vertebrae, then connects your bones using metal screws and plates so that your bones can fuse.
A bone graft encourages your vertebrae on either side to grow toward it, and then they eventually unite to form a single bone.
It’s important if you’re experiencing symptoms of disc degeneration that you seek treatment. You shouldn’t settle for living with the pain and limitations that these symptoms cause, and you don’t want to put yourself at risk for other problems down the road, like spinal stenosis.
Contact our Garden City office at 516-246-5008 to make an appointment today and get on the path to healing as soon as possible.
