Treating Degenerative Disc Disease: My Story

We have established how ironic it is that I discover I have degenerative disc disease 5 months after accepting the position as CEO of SpineUniverse, but is there an opportunity here to turn this negative into a positive for both myself and others suffering from the disease.

What a great opportunity to use myself as a guinea pig for the treatment options available to someone with a degenerated L5/S1 disc.

Last week I saw the orthopedic surgeon I found through SpineUniverse. He's a well-respected surgeon 10 minutes from my house, and after an MRI, he is the one who gave me the diagnosis. His suggestion was to do what I can to alleviate the pain through non-surgical treatments like physical therapy, but he expects at some point I will need surgery. He also suggested I see a neurologist for the pins and needles in my hands and feet since an L5/S1 degeneration should not be causing pins and needles in my hands.

I am going to follow his recommendation and see both, as well as, as many other related specialists as possible. I want to avoid surgery at all costs.

This week I plan on seeing the following:
1) Physical Therapist
2) Neurologist (just in case the tingling in my feet and hands is not from the degenerated disc
3) Chiropractor
4) Pain Specialist

Next week I see:
1) Personal trainer who does functional movement (expect a post next week discussing functional movement. My trainer, Eric D'Agati, performs functional movement screening for the NY Giants to help reduce injuries Eric's website )
2) Acupuncture
3) Nutritionist (I want to lose weight. Most people don't realize losing weight is the first thing we should be doing to reduce lower back pain

I recommend checking out this article to learn more about the effects of weight on the spine. Weight & Back Pain Article

I plan to keep all of you in the loop on my progress, including what works for me and what doesn't.

Talk to you soon.

BP