MY DOCTOR SAID MY BACK HURTS BECAUSE I HAVE DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE.
Low back pain is a prevalent issue that affects a significant portion of the population at some point in their lives. Up to two thirds of adults will experience low back pain at some point in their lives and it remains the leading cause of disabiltiy worldwide.
When it comes to diagnosing the cause of your pain, doctors often turn to advanced imaging techniques such as x-rays, MRIs, and CT scans. During these imaging procedures, it's not uncommon for findings like 'disk degeneration' or 'disk bulges' to be observed. These findings might lead one to believe that they are the direct cause of your discomfort. However, the reality is a bit more complex.
As we age, it's natural for our spinal structures to undergo changes, irrespective of whether we experience pain. Research has shown that a substantial number of individuals without any neck or back pain exhibit these same abnormalities on their imaging scans.
For instance, in a study involving over a thousand individuals aged 20 to 70 without neck pain, nearly nine out of ten participants were found to have disk bulges on their MRIs.
Even among individuals with low back pain, studies have demonstrated that the presence of degenerative changes on imaging does not always correlate with the severity or presence of pain.
In one study spanning a decade, despite a significant portion of participants developing low back pain over time, the changes observed in their MRIs did not reliably predict the onset or severity of pain.
Similarly, a separate study examining individuals with neck pain over a 20-year period found no consistent relationship between the degenerative changes observed on imaging and the clinical symptoms experienced by the participants.
Therefore, it's crucial to approach your imaging results with caution. While these findings provide valuable insights, they do not necessarily pinpoint the exact cause of your pain. Just as wrinkles on your skin are a natural sign of aging, changes observed in your spine may also be indicative of normal aging processes rather than the direct source of your discomfort.
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