HuntingNet.com Forums - Got bad news from docter

Quote:

ORIGINAL: BEARBUSTER66

Found out today that i have degentative disc disease in 6 discs.

Sounds like an awful lot man. Now before you go throwin' in the towel here you should know that #1 if he diagnosed you off an x-ray he is just guessing.......you can't see discs on a film.....now what you can see are disc spaces and if those are decreased then you have a pretty good idea that a disc could be in trouble. There are also other changes to the bones of the spine that go along with disc degeneration that are clues as well. Bottom line is that if you take a film on anyone.........and I mean ANYONE that is near age 40 you will be able to find at least one and probably more discs that you would say are less then textbook "normal" Everyone's discs begin to shrink ever so slowly due to decreased hydration from about age 30 onwards anyways. If your doctor is talking about very mild disc changes here then by all means adjust your lifestyle and be aware that it's something you need to make an effort to keep from going down hill. Once the mechanics of the spinal column get screwed up it is usually a snowballing effect that leads to increases in pressure elsewhere until something gives. Be smart about things you do in your area of concern.

That leads me to the next step..........I don't where all these discs are he is telling you are in trouble but I am guessing a combo of low back and neck since there are no discs above your second cervical (neck) vertebra so it would cover your whole neck and then some if that is what he meant and low back issues above the bottom 3 vertebra are not common outside of trauma or long standing degeneration or pathology (you being in your 30's should have neither) Thoracic (mid back) disc problems are much less symptomatic in nature and again are usually from trauma or disease process.

Bottom line........find out which discs he is talking about so you know what you're dealing with.

Once you know which discs are of concern I would then say you should evaluate your current condition accordingly. If they are neck discs then you need to be concerned if you have problems in your arms and even down to your hands. Pain, numbness, weakness, weird sensation etc are all of concern. They should be pretty predictable as far as which disc is the cause because each nerve (C5-C6-C7-C8-T1) has it's own job to do in the arms and hands and signs of problems with each are not hard to trace.

As far as low back you are talking about getting more concerned if you get sciatica (pain down legs and into feet), and generally the stuff I mentioned about the arms but in your legs. Serious disc problems in the low back can have wide ranging effect but I don't think you are in that arena yet if at all because you mentioned bowhunting so I figure it's your upper body that is of concern........not that low back issues make climbing trees and dragging deer very easy either though.

An MRI is the only way you are gonna know what your discs are doing for certain.......you probably won't get one of them ordered unless you have serious radiating nerve pain issues though (insurance companies suck).

Get as much info as you can about what you are being told and elaborate a little on your condition and maybe we can help you out some and keep you in a tree for a few more years ;)