Early Disc Desiccation

[Sarah04m]

I was diagnosed with early disc desiccation. I am 21 yrs old. I am constantly in pain with my lower back. It is always a dull throbbing pain. I can no longer do very much exercising besides walking, and it seems like my pain gets worse and worse everyday. How serious can this condition be now and later in life? Can someone please take the time to better explain my diagnosis?

[mike1105]

early disc dessication means your discs are beginning to lose their thickness and sponginess. I doubt this has much to do with your back pain. read the post I gave to ryuji. I'd bet, especailly at your age, your problem is muscular and is easily fixable. Early disc dessication to me is very benign. I'm 45 (pain free now) and I WISH that was the diagnosis on my lower back.

[Sarah04m]

Ok, so, my problem is muscular? It kind of doesn't feel muscular, lol. I don't know, though, and the Dr. never said anything about it being muscular. A few years back, as a cheerleader in high school, I was dropped from a very high stunt to the gym floor on my butt. It knocked the breath out of me, and I was unconcsious for about 5 mins. I'm assuming the fall has a lot to do with my back problems, but I can't seem to find a Dr. who can really help solve the mystery! As I said before, I can't exercise much anymore because it hurts. It's always the dull throbbing pain, but at times (certain ways I move) I have a shooting pain that goes through my lower back and butt, and my right leg goes numb for a second or two. It's really weird. Anyway, thanks for your help!
Sarah

[Chris_M]

The lower back can sometimes be hard to diagnose when traumatic injury is involved.  I would seek a second opinion with a orthopedic spine specialist or neurosurgeon who is affiliated with one of the better hospitals in your area.

I would be glad to point you in the right direction.

All the best,
    Chris

[Sarah04m]

Ok, thank you for the advice! Have a great day!

[ryuji]

hi sarah,

I went to three orthopeadic surgeons and one physio therapist over a period of 1 year and they all said there is nothing wrong with me. Not all doctors are competant. I had an incident similar to what you had and I am sure it is because of that u are having these pain. I argued with the doctors and finally got an MRI done.

And I have a slight L5-S1 L4-L5 focal protrusion of disc. No atter how slight it is I know it is because of this that i am having back aches. And nowdays I can't walk or stand for long becasue my feet starts to hurt. I did some research and found  that is becasue of my sceleatic nerve that runs thru the back that causes this. To cut the it short, GET AN MRI SCAN.

My orthopeadic surgeon specialist have given up, they don't know what to do. That says for the standard of doctors nowdays. Now i am going to see a 'Chiropractor and Sports rehabilitation' speacilist. lets see what he says.

[Aliejean]

As a therapist, I say try a Medx rehab program in your home town.  You may have to call your health insurance company to see who provides that and who they will pay for.  It is an intensive strengthening program for your low back.  It should help you a lot.  It has done wonders for 95% of my patients.

[dgz]

Since you have shooting pain down your leg with numbness involved it sounds like you have a herniated disc or a bulged disc that is pressing on your thecal sac. Naturally there are holes in the vertebrae that allow nerves to pass through. If your disc is protruding & narrowing this hole, it is pressing on the nerve root causing the shooting pain/numbness. This is called narrowing of the neural foramen. You should get a sit-up MRI. You will be in a seated position and this will place pressure on your discs like everyday life. Lay down MRIs dont show problems when they really exist. Also your discs are desiccated, which means dried out. This makes them more fragile & easy to damage. Do you have any numbness, tingling, weakness or pain in your feet, toes, thighs or calfs? Do you have pain if you walk on your heals? Or walking on your tip toes? Do you have difficulty rising from a sqatting position? Did they ever test your knee-jerk reflexes or ankle reflexes?

[Rosie70]

I had the same type of pain that you are having with the lower back, butt and making your leg go numb....I found out that I have a ripped sciatic nerve by having an MRI done.  I have been taking a muscle relaxer for this (Flexeril 10 mg 1 pill 3 times a day) for 8 years now and am usually pain free....hope this helps!!  

[penwill65]

You need to be tested for fybromyalgia, and you need to see a nurosugeon, and have a complete MRI, on your cervical, t-spine and lower spine

[penwill65]

Dont wait around one doctors office to long like i did for years!!!!!!!! I have been in pain for 27 yrs , now at 42, i just had surgery.....my chiropractor helped some pain for years but, when i needed hi the most to understand my pain and help me .....put it this way i just had to ha surgery, i had a forasic herniated disk T-7. Now i dont see me doing much the rest of my years so go get those MRI done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[paula0519]

i fell on my job and since there i suffer some much with this pain down my right shoulder the neck bothers me all day long i'm on pain killers but how long can you cont' to take them i was a very active 43yr old. i had a mri done they said that i have disc narrowing and desiccation found with the mri done. all though i have never felt this pain before i fell i can't sleep at night without different position tossing and turning all night long could the fell have made this more pronouced to me whereas i have never had this type of pain even radating down my right shoulder on side i fell on help me

[elyse54]

A recent MRI identified a dessicated disc low in the lumbar area.  I am 53 and have had brief but intense periods of pinching pain in my right lower back going into the buttock area, over the past 15 years.  It usually lasts a few minutes.  Lately, though, I've been having it more often, and when it's acting up, I may have 5 - 10 brief episodes in a day.  Then it could be months before it happens again.  Any ideas about treatment?

[Nini14]

hi .I am 20 years old female. I have the same problem that sarah has. I cant remember any injury that i had but just few days back my right leg and right side of abdomen went completely numb and until now it is. I got my mri scan and it showed disc desiccation at my L4-L5 and L5-S1 part of my spinal cord. my doctor adviced me to have NCV now where they would check my impulse. My question is that if this problem is completely curable or will this be a problem to me for my whole life..
thanks for your time
                                                                                               Nini..

[kay290]

Yes, you can have a prexisting spinal problem and boom=one day you injure it or do something minor and the pain starts. That is very common.