Your discs — the donut-shaped spinal shock absorbers between your vertebrae — have tough outer shells and softer centers. They’re essential for protecting your spine from injury and allowing you to perform movements like twisting and bending.
Unfortunately, one of the many side effects of aging is disc degeneration. Several conditions lead to degeneration, which can cause disabling pain and dramatically limit mobility.
Fortunately, board-certified neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Cohen offers expert treatment for disc degeneration, from conservative measures to minimally invasive surgical solutions.
He approaches every patient with competence and compassion and creates a treatment plan individualized to your condition and symptoms.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to escape disc degeneration — in fact, 9 out of 10 people have some measure of the condition by the time they hit 60.
Common problems that play into disc degeneration include:
When you’re young, your discs are made up of approximately 80% water, but one of the inevitable parts of aging is that these discs become desiccated and thinner over time.
After decades, normal activities, such as standing, sitting, walking, bending down, and twisting, weaken and wear down the outer portion of your discs.
Athletic activities are a double-edged sword: They provide healthy exercise but also apply stress to your spinal discs.
An injured disc can’t repair itself because discs don’t contain enough blood to support healing.
When the protective cushions of your discs wear away, you’re at risk of:
Disc degeneration — and the other conditions it causes — can lead to debilitating neck or lower back pain, numbness and tingling, limited movement (like being unable to twist or bend), muscle weakness, pain in your extremities, stiffness, and more.
When you meet with Dr. Cohen to map out a plan for addressing your degenerative disc disease, he typically starts by recommending conservative treatments, like:
If these don’t work, Dr. Cohen may suggest a minimally invasive surgical procedure.
Artificial disc replacement allows you to continue moving your spine with ease. During the procedure, Dr. Cohen removes and replaces your damaged disc with an artificial one.
Another option is disc removal combined with spinal fusion. Dr. Cohen fuses your vertebrae by applying a bone graft between your affected bones with metal hardware. He may use living bone cells or a fusion case containing biochemicals that encourage bone growth.
The vertebrae grow in the direction of the graft, eventually becoming one bone.
Both procedures are minimally invasive, which means faster recovery, reduced pain, bleeding, scarring, and the likelihood of postsurgical infection.
The good news is that if you’re coping with the painful and limiting symptoms of degenerative disc disease, we offer treatments that can restore your comfort and increase your mobility and spinal stability.
Call Benjamin Cohen, MD, at 516-246-5008 to schedule an in-office or telemedicine appointment to learn more about cutting-edge disc degeneration treatment.
