Spinal Degeneration, Arlington Texas
Degeneration: What A Scan Report Actually Means
The short answer
Degenerative change is what a spine looks like after it has been used. It appears on imaging in very large numbers of people who have no pain whatsoever, which means a report describing degeneration does not by itself explain a symptom. What matters is how the joints around it move and load. Care here is aimed at keeping the segments either side working properly and at building the strength to support them. It is not aimed at reversing a finding on a film, because nothing does that.
What The Words Mean
Alarming Language For An Ordinary Finding
Degenerative disc disease is not a disease you caught. It is a description of a disc that has dried out and lost some height.
Discs are mostly water when you are young and they hold less of it as the years pass. As a disc loses height the joints at the back of that segment take more load, the ligaments slacken slightly, and bone responds at the edges by thickening. Radiologists have precise names for all of that, and read cold on a page they sound like a diagnosis of decline. They are usually a description of age.
This matters because of what happens next. People read a report, decide their spine is crumbling, and stop moving. Loss of activity then costs them strength and confidence, and those two things predict how the next flare goes far better than anything on the film does.
What The Research Says
Present In Most People Who Have No Pain At All
American Journal of Neuroradiology, 2015 (Brinjikji and colleagues), imaging features of spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populations: a systematic review of thirty-three studies covering 3,110 people with no symptoms. Disc degeneration was present in 37 percent of 20 year olds and 96 percent of 80 year olds. Disc bulges rose from 30 percent at age 20 to 84 percent at 80. Disc protrusions rose from 29 percent to 43 percent, and annular fissures from 19 percent to 29 percent. The authors conclude that many of these features are likely part of normal ageing and unassociated with pain, and that imaging findings must be interpreted in the context of the patient in front of you.
What this means in plain terms: at 50, a report describing disc degeneration puts you with the majority of pain free people your age. It does not mean nothing. It means the report on its own cannot tell you why you hurt, and a physical examination has to do that job.
None of that makes a scan useless. It makes a scan an answer to a specific question rather than a verdict on your spine. There is no imaging in this building, so if your examination raises a question that needs a film, you get referred for one.
What Actually Helps
Movement At The Segment, Strength Around It
Nothing regrows a disc. Plenty changes how well you live with one.
Care here has two halves. The first is restoring movement at the segments above and below the change, because those are the ones taking the extra work and they are the ones that tend to lock up. The second is strength, and it is the half that lasts. There is a power rack and a cable machine in this building for exactly this reason: a spine that has changed with age needs the muscles around it to be doing more, not less, and a programme has to be loaded and progressed in front of someone.
Dr. Monet is certified in applied kinesiology, and manual muscle testing is used here as part of the examination rather than as a test on its own. It is a practical way to see which links in the chain have stopped contributing. What you will not get is a promise about the film. Nothing here is a promise of any particular result, and if the examination says this is not a chiropractic problem you get told so.
Read This First
When Spinal Pain Is Not A Clinic Appointment
If You Notice Any of These Warning Signs, Please Seek Emergency Room Care Right Away.
- Loss of bowel or bladder control, or numbness through the saddle area or inner thighs. This can be cauda equina syndrome and it is an emergency
- Weakness in both legs, or weakness anywhere that is getting worse day by day
- Clumsiness in the hands or feeling unsteady on your feet, which can point at pressure on the spinal cord
- Fever alongside spinal pain, or unexplained weight loss
- Pain following a significant fall or collision, or a suspected fracture, particularly with thinning bone
- New spinal pain with a history of cancer
- Pain that is steadily worsening, that wakes you at night, or that is unrelieved by any position
Call 817-800-7136 and describe it, and you will be told plainly where to go.
Common Questions
Degeneration, Asked And Answered
My scan says degenerative disc disease. Is my spine wearing out?
It is describing a disc that has lost water and height, which happens to nearly everyone. The 2015 review found disc degeneration in 96 percent of 80 year olds with no symptoms at all. The finding is real and it is not on its own the explanation for your pain.
Can chiropractic reverse degeneration?
No, and nothing else does either. What can change is how the segments around it move and how much strength is supporting them. That is what care here is aimed at, and it is stated that way rather than dressed up.
Should I stop exercising?
Almost always the opposite. Losing strength and confidence predicts how the next flare goes far better than anything on the film. The point of having a rack in the building is that loading can be built back up under supervision rather than avoided.
Do I need another scan?
Usually not. A scan answers a specific question, and repeat imaging without a new question tends to add worry rather than information. There is no imaging in this building, so if your examination raises a real question you get referred for one.
Is it arthritis?
Degenerative change in the joints at the back of the spine is often called spinal arthritis or spondylosis, and it belongs to the same picture. Inflammatory arthritis is a different problem with a different pattern and it belongs with a physician.
Do you take insurance for this?
Insurance and paying directly both work. Call 817-800-7136 and ask before you book, and you will be told how it works in your case. Appointments only, so a visit has to be booked.
Sources
Where The Numbers On This Page Come From
- Systematic literature review of imaging features of spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populations. Brinjikji W, Luetmer PH, Comstock B, Bresnahan BW, Chen LE, Deyo RA, Halabi S, Turner JA, Avins AL, James K, Wald JT, Kallmes DF, Jarvik JG. American Journal of Neuroradiology 2015;36(4):811 to 816. Thirty-three studies, 3,110 asymptomatic individuals. Source of every prevalence figure quoted: disc degeneration 37 percent at 20 and 96 percent at 80, bulge 30 to 84 percent, protrusion 29 to 43 percent, annular fissure 19 to 29 percent.
Get The Report Explained, Then Examined
Bring the report. Call and describe what you have been told, or book online and pick a time.
3825 W Green Oaks Blvd, Suite 710, Arlington, TX 76016. Appointments only.