At the UK HealthCare Comprehensive Spine Center, our comprehensive team of experts works together to create the treatment plan that best fits your specific needs. They may use a combination of techniques to treat degenerative disk disease.
Conservative, nonoperative treatment will improve symptoms of degenerative disk disease for most people. Strengthening your back and core muscles can often relieve some pain. Working with a physical therapist can help many people.
- Control stress. Learn to identify stress and find calming activities that can help you manage stressful situations.
- Eat a healthy diet. This includes eating fruits and veggies, lean meats, nuts, beans, fish and whole grains. It also includes limiting sodium, added sugars and unhealthy fats.
- Strive to get seven to nine hours of quality sleep per night.
- Limit alcohol. Men should have no more than two drinks per day and women should aim for no more than one drink per day, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
- Manage other health problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, by taking medicines properly and following your provider’s guidance.
- Quit smoking. If you smoke or vape, take steps to quit. Try to avoid secondhand smoke, too. Smoking can interfere with healing, as nicotine can reduce oxygen-rich blood flow going to the healing tendons and bones. Nicotine can also increase the risk of blood clots in the legs.
- Reach and maintain a healthy weight.
- Stay physically active. Try to get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week. Talk to your provider about what exercises are good for you. Be sure to watch for signs that your heart is working too hard. If you become short of breath or dizzy while exercising, stop and rest right away.
Physical therapy plays a crucial role in effectively managing chronic back pain. At UK HealthCare, physical therapy is an integral part of many spine treatment plans. Our spine specialists work with therapy experts who specialize in musculoskeletal care. Together, they create a plan tailored for your unique needs.
A physical therapist can:
- Create a personalized exercise plan to enhance your flexibility and range of motion
- Strengthen your core muscles to maintain proper alignment
- Improve your posture
- Educate you on correct movement techniques and modifications to use during pain episodes, helping you to engage in your favorite activities while reducing the likelihood of recurring back pain
If over-the-counter pain relievers haven't eased your back pain, talk with your doctor. Muscle relaxants might be an option, but they can cause dizziness and sleepiness.
Over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB) or naproxen sodium (Aleve) might be helpful, but you should follow the instructions carefully. Using OTC pain relievers for too long or incorrectly can have serious side effects. If these don't relieve your pain, your doctor can recommend stronger prescription pain relievers.
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is sometimes used as a minimally invasive treatment option for chronic pain. Also known as radiofrequency neurotomy, this procedure targets specific nerves transmitting pain signals. A thin electrode-tipped needle is inserted near the targeted nerve with the help of imaging guidance (X-ray or fluoroscopy). This treatment uses heat to disrupt the nerve's ability to send pain signals. This can help reduce long-term pain.
If conservative treatments haven’t helped your pain, a targeted injection might offer short-term relief. This injection includes a steroid to reduce swelling around the nerves and a numbing medicine to ease pain right away. While a steroid injection is effective, it's important to note that the pain relief typically lasts for one to two months.
At UK HealthCare, interventional pain management is an integral part of many spine treatment plans. Our spine specialists work with pain management experts specializing in musculoskeletal care to create a plan tailored for each patient's needs.
Around 5% of patients with degenerative disk disease will need surgery.
Recovery from surgery on your neck or lower back will take several weeks or even months.
During this surgical procedure, your foramen — the part of your vertebra where nerve roots exit the spine — are enlarged. This surgery relieves pressure on a compressed nerve.
Before your foraminotomy, you will get general anesthesia so you will sleep during the procedure. Your surgeon will make an incision in your neck or back above the affected vertebra. After moving muscles and ligaments to the side, your foramen bone will be cut so the nerve root opening can be expanded. The surgery usually takes about two hours.
After your anesthesia wears off, you will remain in the hospital overnight.
After surgery, most patients (more than 80 percent) get relief from pain caused by nerve compression. Full recovery can take up to a year, but you will be able to resume light activities within a month or two and return to work within six weeks.
Spinal decompression surgery is any of several surgery types that relieve compressed spinal nerves. During these procedures, doctors remove bones or disks to relieve pain and pressure.
Most decompressive surgeries are performed while patients are under general anesthesia. This allows for sleeping comfortably during the procedure. While the patient is asleep, the doctor will perform one of the following:
- Corpectomy: Removal of a whole disk or vertebra, as well as the disks above and below, often followed by a spinal fusion to stabilize the spine
- Discectomy: Removal of part of a disk to relieve nerve pressure
- Foraminotomy: Removal of bone or tissue to expand nerve root openings and relieve nerve pain
- Laminectomy or laminotomy: Removal of some or all of the spinal canal’s bony arches to expand the opening and relieve pressure
- Osteophyte removal: Removal of bone spurs to relieve pressure
After these procedures, you will stay in the hospital for one to five days as you recover.
This surgery is performed to stop movement between two or more vertebrae in the spine.
Before your spinal fusion, you will receive general anesthesia so that you sleep during the procedure. To perform this surgery, your surgeon may access your spine in one of three ways:
- On your back or neck above the spine: You will lie on your stomach, and your surgeon will make an incision over the area and move the muscles and tissues to the side to access the spine.
- On your side: If spinal fusion is being performed on your lower back, you may lie on your side to give the surgeon the best angle to access the spine in that area.
- On the front of the neck: If spinal fusion is on the neck, your surgeon may make an incision on the front part of your neck near the side.
The vertebrae will be fused together with:
- Bone graft placed along the back of the spine
- Bone graft material added between two or more vertebrae
- Implantable cages used between the vertebrae
The doctor may also stabilize the vertebrae with cages, plates, rods or screws until the grafts heal. The surgery usually takes three to four hours.
After your surgery, you will remain in the hospital for three or four days, and you will receive pain medicine to keep you comfortable. You may wear a back brace when you leave the hospital.
After surgery, you will need to stay off work for about four to six weeks as you recover, and you will be limited to very light activity. You may need physical therapy.
If you have tried other pain relief treatments and your spinal pain hasn’t improved, spinal fusion may work as a pain relief option. However, spinal fusion doesn’t provide pain relief for everyone, and it can increase pain.