I recently read a really interesting study on Disc Degeneration, and what causes it (I know, I need to get a life). As a lot of you either have a little degeneration or are concerned about it developing I thought I’d share the findings of this study.

The first interesting point worth noting is that degeneration is a Progressive Process – ie it is not a one off event. Over time, repeatedly doing everyday activities can cause the structure to fail and this will accelerate the aging/degeneration process.

The study says looking after your back becomes more important as you age because adult discs have limited healing potential and structural failure can be irreversible.

It happens to everyone if you live long enough; the question is, how long can you hold it at bay? And what are the things you’re doing everyday to bring it on?

The authors state that “excessive mechanical loading disrupts a disc’s structure”, weakening the disc “to such an extent that structural failure occurs during the activities of daily living”. In plain English – the little things you do wrong every day add up so that one day your disc will fail doing something really basic.

I would estimate that over 90% of the people I see fall into this category – I do see people with acute trauma eg car accident, fall, sports injury etc, but most people would say they have noticed things getting tighter over time and then all of a sudden they woke up in extreme pain.

What are some examples? They’re literally everywhere. Lifting is extremely common – and I’m not just talking about big heavy things. Boxes of papers at work, loads of washing, babies and young children, getting your shopping out of the boot, doing some gardening.

In the edition of Balance where we looked at computer posture I said that prolonged sitting with a slumped posture will compress your low back. This can a) lead to increased chance of disc problems and b) early arthritis.

Repetitive tasks with poor lifting techniques when you don’t have good core strength and flexibility in your back is a recipe for disaster.

Red Flag: Nerve impingements. With disc problems, you may need emergency care if your bowel or bladder function suddenly become severely disrupted due to nerve impingement. If you experience these symptoms you should seek immediate medical attention.

What can you do about it? See the page on Preventing Disc Degeneration.