Ongoing back pain that flares and fades.
Degenerative disc disease is a wear-and-tear process — the discs in your spine gradually lose water and height over time, which can make the spine less stable and more prone to painful flare-ups. Despite the name, it isn't a traditional disease, and most people with it live active lives with the right management plan.
Your doctor may describe this as age-related disc changes or disc degeneration.
Often seen within a few days — sometimes as soon as tomorrowRequest your first visit
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What degenerative disc disease really is.
Spinal discs act as shock absorbers between your vertebrae. They're made up of a tough outer layer and a gel-like center. With age — and sometimes with injury or repetitive loading — the center loses hydration, the disc flattens, and small tears develop in the outer layer. This is disc degeneration, and it's actually very common on imaging in people over 40, many of whom have no pain at all.
When degeneration does cause symptoms, it's usually because the reduced disc height or instability puts extra stress on the surrounding structures — the joints, muscles, and ligaments that compensate. The result is often a chronic baseline ache with periodic flare-ups, worsened by prolonged sitting, bending, or lifting. Nerve involvement is less common than with a herniated disc, but it can occur if the disc changes lead to narrowing around a nerve root.
The good news
Degenerative disc disease is a chronic condition, not a crisis. Most people manage it very successfully with physical therapy, activity modification, and targeted injections for flare-ups. Understanding what triggers your flare-ups — and what makes them settle — gives you a great deal of control over the condition.
Discogenic vs. facet-mediated pain
As discs degenerate, the mechanical load shifts to the adjacent facet joints, which can themselves become inflamed and painful. Distinguishing primary discogenic pain (worse with loading, flexion, and sitting) from facet-mediated pain (worse with extension and rotation) changes the treatment pathway. Diagnostic medial branch blocks and provocative discography can localize the pain source when the clinical picture is mixed.
Common signs we treat.
Aching that worsens with sitting
A deep spinal ache that builds during prolonged sitting or bending — the positions that load degenerated discs the most.
Flare-ups of sharp pain
Sudden sharper episodes layered on top of the chronic ache — often triggered by an awkward movement, lifting, or a long day on your feet.
Stiffness after inactivity
Pronounced stiffness when rising from sitting or in the morning — the disc and surrounding tissues tighten up when they aren't moving.
From hurting to healed.
We work from the least-invasive options upward, escalating only if you need it. Most patients improve well before surgery is ever discussed.
Diagnose the cause
A physician examines you and, if needed, reviews imaging to pinpoint exactly what's driving the pain.
Calm it down
Targeted physical therapy, activity guidance, and medication to settle the irritation and reduce inflammation.
Image-guided injections
If pain persists, a precisely targeted injection delivered to the source under imaging.
Advanced options
For the few who need more, minimally invasive interventional procedures — with surgery as a last resort.
Treatment is matched to your specific diagnosis at your visit. The options shown reflect NASPAC's general approach and should be confirmed against the practice's verified procedure list.
Still have questions?
Not in the traditional sense. It's a descriptive term for the normal aging process of spinal discs — the same way joints develop arthritis with age. Most people over 60 have some degree of disc degeneration on MRI without any pain. It becomes a "disease" only in the sense that for some people it produces real, disruptive symptoms that need treatment.
The anatomical changes do progress gradually over time — disc degeneration doesn't reverse. But symptoms often reach a plateau and remain stable for years. Many people find their flare-ups actually become less frequent and less severe as the disc stabilizes through scar tissue formation. Ongoing care focuses on keeping you functional and managing flare-ups, not on stopping the clock.
The structural changes — reduced disc height, loss of water content, outer ring tears — cannot currently be reversed by any available treatment. What can be changed is how those changes affect you: targeted physical therapy builds the supporting muscles, reducing load on the disc; image-guided injections address flare-ups; and emerging regenerative approaches aim to slow the process, though evidence is still developing.
Physical therapy to strengthen the core and reduce disc loading, activity modification to avoid the positions that reliably trigger flares, and targeted epidural or facet injections for acute episodes are the foundation. For people with significant ongoing pain despite these measures, radiofrequency ablation of the facet joints or, in selected cases, minimally invasive surgical options may be appropriate.
Stop living with the flare-ups.
Book with a board-certified pain physician near you — most patients are seen within days.
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