Degenerative Disc Disease Diagnosis
Degenerative disc disease or narrowing of the disc space can be identified on MRI scans and X-rays.
However as not all ageing discs are symptomatic. It is important to see your physiotherapist who can ask you questions and perform tests to determine the source of your back pain and treat it accordingly.
Degenerative Disc Disease Treatment
Although your intervertebral discs will continue to age over time, it is highly likely that your back pain will actually decrease and your symptoms are often able to be managed successfully with conservative treatment.
Your physiotherapist will be able to develop an individual program for you to achieve this so you can return to your normal day to day life as quickly as possible.
It is important to note that just because you have degenerative disc disease present on CT scan or MRI, it doesn't mean it will be painful. In fact, when you were pain-free the day before you had your first symptoms, degenerative disc disease would have been present on scans!
Therefore the success in the treatment of degenerative disc disease is managing the disease and your associated findings rather than just the degeneration.