Things to Avoid with Degenerative Disc Disease
Degenerative disc disease is frustrating and painful! Patients undergoing degenerative disc disease treatment receive several recommendations, such as exercising often; in reality, you must avoid strenuous exercise. A few recommend food restrictions, but you must follow a healthy diet.
No more confusion! This blog compiles a list of things to avoid with degenerative disc disease. It incorporates helpful practices for achieving a healthy spine.
Disc Degeneration Key Takeaways - Do's and Don'ts
Do's
✅Follow anti-inflammatory diet
✅Proper Sleep
✅Practice good posture
✅Proper mattress selection
✅Keen focus on hydration
✅Consult a neurosurgeon
Don'ts
❌Intense sports and activities
❌Poor posture and body mechanics
❌ Heavy lifting
❌ Avoid activities that twist your back.
❌ Prolonged sitting
❌ Ignoring the pain
What is Degenerative Disc Disease?
DDD, or degenerative disc disease, occurs when the spinal discs wear out or break. The worn-out disc causes the vertebrae to rub each other and leads to several back problems. DDD is primarily free from symptoms. Pain may come and go, but the symptoms can worsen over time because of the vulnerable vertebrae.
Disc degeneration causes unexpected discomfort throughout the day. As the disease progresses, it disrupts your day-to-day activities, such as your ability to walk, move, work, or pursue hobbies.
Degenerative Disc Disease - Causes
- Age-related degeneration where the disc loses natural fluid and becomes less flexible
- Previous injuries such as fractures or herniated disc
- Poor posture exerts stress on your spine, leading to disc degeneration.
- Obesity or being overweight puts additional stress on your spine.
- Repetitive motions or heavy weight lifting
Disc Degeneration - Symptoms
- Dull or sharp back pain is often felt in the neck or lower back.
- Stiffness after hours of inactivity
- Weakness in the muscles such as legs and arms
- Numbness in the leg or arms
- Reducing the ability to twist, bend, or move back
Things to Avoid with Degenerative Disc Disease
#1 Degenerative Disc Disease Exercises to Avoid
Exercise is a possible solution for DDD, but overexercising can hurt your health rather than benefit. If you have a spinal disc issue or mild lower back pain, heavy exercises such as pushing, lifting, or pulling heavy weights can harm your back.
Instead, you can regularly include gentle aerobic exercises such as swimming, brisk walking, or biking. You can also include gentle stretching, yoga, tai chi, and low-impact exercises based on the recommendation of your doctor or physical therapist.
#2 Foods to Avoid
Certain foods can worsen the inflammation and leave you with more pain if you live with back pain. Avoiding or cutting off foods such as fried foods, sugary drinks, processed meat, refined carbohydrates, and some healthy foods such as tomato, onion, and pepper cause inflammation.
Instead, include anti-inflammatory foods such as avocados, legumes, sweet potatoes, berries, nuts, spinach, leafy greens, and fatty fish. These foods fight inflammation and help you feel better.
#3 Avoid Heavy Lifting
Weight lifting is risky for people with DDD because poor lifting techniques can hurt your spine. Individuals with lower back pain have stiffer squats and changes in their body mechanics compared to people without pain.
Instead, make sure to have appropriate support equipment for weight lifting until you have treated your DDD. If you prefer weight lifting as a part of your exercise, consult your physical trainer.
#4 Avoid Prolonged Sitting
Movement is essential for a healthy spine. So, sitting for long hours can disrupt your blood flow to the spine structure. A few activities like sitting at your work desk, resting on a couch, long hours of airline travel, or even sleeping on the couch for an extended period puts extra pressure and contribute to unexpected levels of pain.
Instead, practice frequent movements to keep your joints lubricated and provide enough blood circulation to the discs.
#5 Avoid High Impact Sports Activities.
High-impact activities such as basketball and football involve pushing your body. These activities send more shock to your spine, making the discs work harder. If the discs aren’t working, shocks won’t get absorbed, leading to further pain.
Avoid high-impact activities such as volleyball, tennis, soccer, and baseball. Consult your doctor to choose the best sports activity that doesn’t harm your spine.
Don't Delay Doctor Consultation - Degenerative Disc Disease Treatment in Dubai.
The more time you delay the Degenerative disc treatment in Dubai, the more it progresses on its own and creates further complications. Disc degeneration progresses fast and develops complications such as spinal degeneration, herniated discs and other spinal ailments.
Conservative treatments
- Physical therapy to strengthen muscles, reduce pain, and improve flexibility
- muscle relaxants, and pain medications.
- Corticosteroid injections to reduce pain and inflammation
- Heat or cold therapy to reduce inflammation
- Chiropractic care and massage therapy for pain
- Orthotics, braces, and lumbar supports to reduce pain
Surgical treatment
- Microdiscectomy to relieve pressure on spine nerves
- Minimally invasive lumbar fusion to stabilize the spine
- Artificial disc replacement to maintain spine flexibility.
Consult Dr Martin Liner - a Trusted Care Provider for Disc Degeneration in Dubai.
Dr Martin Liner is a board-certified neurosurgical consultant and spine doctor Dubai. Utilizing his professional expertise, he excels in treating spine disorders.
He follows a personalized approach and provides quick relief from DDD symptoms. With collective experience in degenerative disc disease treatment, Dr Martin develops a custom-tailored plan to alleviate your pain and regain spine health!
Early diagnosis and treatment prevent adverse complications! Stay comfortable with remarkable spine health! Contact us today!
