Understanding Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease as a Form of Arthritis

When discussing back pain and its causes, the terminology can sometimes be confusing. Lumbar degenerative disc disease (DDD) is often mentioned in isolation as a distinct condition. However, it's important to understand that this disease is, in fact, a form of arthritis, specifically affecting the discs of the spine. This perspective helps clarify treatment approaches and underscores the interconnectedness of spinal health issues.

Defining Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease

Degenerative disc disease in the lumbar region is a condition where the intervertebral discs, which act as cushions between the vertebrae, deteriorate or break down. This degeneration is a form of arthritis because it involves the gradual deterioration of a key joint component—the disc—similar to how arthritis affects other joints in the body.

• Symptoms: Typical symptoms of lumbar DDD include chronic lower back pain that may radiate to the hips or thighs. The pain often worsens with activities that stress the spine, like lifting or bending, and may improve when lying down. The pain can also be worse in the morning and felt with significant stiffness for the first 30-60 minutes of the day.

The Arthritic Component

Classifying DDD as a form of arthritis is based on its nature as a degenerative joint disease. Just as arthritis affects the cartilage in a knee or hip, DDD affects the disc material between vertebrae (fibrocartilage), leading to symptoms of pain, loss of function, and potential nerve irritation.

Diagnosis and Management

Diagnosis of lumbar degenerative disc disease involves patient history, physical examinations, and imaging tests like Xray, MRI or CT scans, which are used to assess the extent of disc degeneration and any associated complications such as herniation or nerve compression.

• Chiropractic Adjustments: Given its arthritic nature, chiropractic care can be highly effective in managing lumbar DDD. Adjustments help improve spinal alignment and motion, reducing the mechanical stress on degenerating discs and associated arthritic changes.

• Exercise and Mobility: Exercises that strengthen and stabilize the lumbar spine can alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life. These exercises target the muscles supporting the spine, enhancing spinal health and mitigating the effects of DDD.

• Lifestyle Modifications: Maintaining a healthy weight, practicing good posture, and employing ergonomic tools can help manage and slow the progression of symptoms.

Recognizing lumbar degenerative disc disease as a form of arthritis enriches our understanding of the condition and enhances the approach to treatment. By integrating targeted chiropractic care, physical therapy, and lifestyle changes consistently, patients can effectively manage the severity of their symptoms and maintain active, healthy lives.

Understanding and Managing Spinal Arthritis-Induced Neck Pain

The Silent Culprit: Spinal Arthritis and Neck Pain

In the charming communities of Newmarket, Aurora, King, Keswick, Georgina, and East Gwillimbury, residents lead active lifestyles that, unfortunately, come with a side of neck pain. At Queen Street Chiropractic, Dr. Adam Markew encounters numerous cases where the root cause of this discomfort is spinal arthritis, a condition not as widely discussed as it should be.

What is Spinal Arthritis?

Spinal arthritis, medically termed as cervical spondylosis, occurs when the cartilage and bones of the neck or cervical spine degenerate. It's a condition often synonymous with age, but lifestyle factors and genetics can play significant roles.

Symptoms: More Than Just a Pain in the Neck

Apart from the obvious neck pain, symptoms of spinal arthritis may include stiffness, headaches, and a grinding sensation during movement. In advanced cases, it can affect nerve pathways, leading to tingling or numbness in arms and even coordination issues.

Diagnosis: The First Step Towards Relief

Dr. Markew emphasizes that a thorough assessment, including physical examination and x-ray imaging tests, is crucial for a conclusive diagnosis. These insights allow for a tailored treatment plan that addresses both symptoms and underlying causes.

Chiropractic Care: A Non-Invasive Approach

Chiropractic adjustments are at the heart of managing spinal arthritis. By restoring proper alignment and movement, these adjustments can reduce pain and improve function. Dr. Markew’s expertise ensures that each session is both comfortable and effective.

Lifestyle Adjustments: A Synergistic Effect

In conjunction with chiropractic care, lifestyle changes can augment relief. Regular exercise, good posture, and ergonomic workspaces can all contribute to mitigating the effects of spinal arthritis.

Advanced Techniques for Lasting Relief

At Queen Street Chiropractic, we also incorporate advanced modalities like spinal decompression and cold laser therapy, which have shown promise in managing arthritis-related symptoms.

Prevention: Staying Ahead of Pain

Preventative strategies are integral to Dr. Markew’s philosophy. Educating patients on maintaining neck health and preventing strain is a staple of our approach to care.

Conclusion: Your Partner in Neck Health

If neck pain has been your unwelcome companion, understanding spinal arthritis is the first step to relief. Dr. Adam Markew and Queen Street Chiropractic are committed to helping you live a life free of pain.

Understanding Your Posture to Protect Your Health

You are human, therefore you are bipedal, meaning you should be upright.  However, you spend much of your time hunched over in a seated posture. Whether it’s computer work, driving, or relaxing while watching a movie, you can’t deny that we are slowly folding like a lawn chair. 

Sitting and leaning forward, with gravity pulling your head and shoulders down, creates unpleasant postural strain. This can present as neck pain, low back pain, shoulder pain, and the associated daily stiffness. Most commonly, the pain and stiffness is not severe enough to stop you from your daily activities, but nagging enough that it will cause you fatigue. 

Repetitive strain is something that you cannot avoid, but depending on your posture it can either set you up for a future of pain and stiffness or with better/proper postural alignment, it can improve your body’s ability to cope with the repetitive strain placed on it.

Here is an example of a posture out of normal alignment. This example highlights the effects of forward head posture and how it correlates with increased strain in the neck.

Notice the red box. This estimates the amount of strain placed on the neck muscles, that have the task of holding the head upright.

Over time, a daily strain that is 2.5 times the normal force on the neck, will increase the rate at which the underlying structures break down.  You can read more on the strains placed on the neck in this post here.

One of the most common signs of chronic wear and tear is the breakdown of the vertebral discs that space each moving vertebrae in your spine. This takes years to develop but with proper care, and posture awareness this can be limited. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The example below is a degenerative disc that occurs over a period of time. 

This postural effect isn’t isolated to the neck, but it’s also common in the low back, especially with people who are desk-bound for 40 + hours a week. Low back pain and stiffness over time can lead to concerning conditions such as sciatica, which can be difficult to recover from.

Often times we assume the breakdown is caused by “old age”. The correct way to put this is it is associated with age, ie. the more time this postural strain has been present, the more breakdown and degeneration is going to be evident.

In the past, as a chiropractor, I would expect to see signs of spinal degeneration in someone who has been working for 10-15 years at a desk for 40 hours a week. The concerning part for me is this is happening more and more in youth, especially since the reliance on technology, such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

Below is an example of a teenager that was referred to me by her family physician, for having a history of multiple disc bulges.  

You can tell in the x-ray that her neck has lost the normal curvature and is putting undue strain on her spine, causing the discs to bulge on the now convex side of the curve. 

It’s concerning to me what the next 10-15 years will look like for the youth of this generation. Prior to the pandemic kids were glued to tech and as a chiropractor, I was already seeing concerning issues in kids, teens and young adults, all related to their daily posture. Symptoms such as numbness and tingling into both hands, shooting pain down shoulders and arms, chronic headaches, and many more. Unfortunately, all of this has been exacerbated over the past year with online schooling and the obvious limitations of available recreational activities.

Like with your car, when the alignment is off, your tires wear unevenly and more rapidly. If your spinal alignment is out of position, the structures of your spine wear unevenly and more rapidly than if the alignment was good.

When it comes to the alignment and breakdown of the spine it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.

It worries me that for the current generation of youth we will not be able to chalk up spinal osteoarthritis to “old age” when they are going to show those signs at a much earlier age.