started having back pain when I was about 13 or 14. The xrays and mris looked fine but I was in considerable pain most of the time, especially at school having to sit in classes. They really couldn't figure out what was going on. I had some sciatic symptoms ... nerve pain in my left groin, hip and butt but it never went down below the knee.

I couldn't stretch and still can't. Everyone would have some stretch theory involving stretching the hamstrings, but every time it made my sciatic pain worse. Another one that always got me was sitting in a chair and just bending forward to stretch the low back. The following day I was a mess.

I had some nut job doc at stanford put me in a cast that went just above my genitals up my chest for 6 weeks. I can't believe I let him talk me into it. In fact I went off to college that way and was the talk of the freshman class. Needless to say it didn't help.

Sometimes the pain is tolerable and other times it gets really bad. Some of my flare ups last months and I'm at least a month into one right now. I ended up getting a discogram (something they say you shouldn't do unless your considering surgery - the doctor didn't mention that part, and I didn't do enough research.) The result was a diagnosis of annular tears at L5/S1 and L4/L5 with ddd on those levels (super common - annular tears lead to rapid ddd) and the level above.

When I think of all the $ and energy that went into getting me relief, with absolutely ZERO to show for it, I am amazed. I've tried accupuncture, yoga, mackenzie method, massage, rolfing, accupressure and PT. I've had numerous mri's, a milogram, facet injections and at best, I left the treatment in the same pain I went in.

A medicine that has been helpful for me has been tramadol. Nsaids like Ibuprofin don't do a thing and I don't want to start getting into harder hitting opiates for fear I'll like them a little too much.

I'm 38 now and amazed that I've been dealing with this for so long. It's hard for other people to really understand the challenge of sustained pain and how consuming back pain can be. I often feel really alone and misunderstood. It's hard to put on a smile or look attentive and interested when your back is throbbing away at a 7 or 8 on a 10 scale.

I have the same concerns as you regarding the future and surgery. The conclusion I've come up with at this point is not to have surgery. Although the pain is brutal sometimes, surgery (and for ddd, it's often invasive surgery they offer) just seems like such a crap shoot and nobody seems to get just one.

I get by on hope ... hope that in the not to distant future they'll discover ways of solving spinal problems better than they have. I have moments in my days where I'm not in pain and I try to take time to enjoy and appreciate them.

Are you an athlete? Was there an activity you were doing when you were 13 that you feel may have contributed to your problem or was there an accident? I didn't have an accident, by the way. It just became sore and got worse. Do you have any nerve pain that radiates into your leg/s?

I'm sorry to hear you're going on 10 years with this and aren't getting any resolution. Thanks for your story and please keep us advised with your decisions, their results and things that give you relief.

Hi, i am 31 years old and have had back problems for years but was diagnosed with DDD before my birthday this year. Mine is what my doctor called an exceptional case, I have bad discs in my lower back my middle back and I have four in my neck. The one in my lower back is pinching nerves to my legs and causing serious problems, that one next month they are going to go in and fix. My middle back is painful but the least severe of all of my degenerated discs. I have four in a row in my neck that are creating all kinds of heck too, this one is causing numbness in the back of my neck radiates pain down my arms an causes numbness in my hands. The plan for mine is after my lower back heals they are going to fix my neck. They are going to replace my bad discs with a synthetic disc replacement so I am hoping and praying that I will have some relief from this pain that is running my life.I am sorry you are troubled with your pain as well, but know that you are not alone being young.

I was 14 when it started and I'm 22 now. I have some pretty significant DDD at L5-S1, L4-L5, and L3-L4. Those three discs are bulging, with the disc at L4-L5 impinging a nerve root down my left leg.

I'm going to suggest avoiding surgery. I'm not a doctor, so this isn't medical advice. But I would tell you to do some research on regenerative therapies for intervertebral disc degeneration. In particular, mesenchymal stem cell therapy looks interesting. I'm personally holding out for this technique, it looks more promising than anything else. I'm trying to get involved in the research, both to assuage my fears and help push it along faster.

About the damned if you do, damned if you don't. There's a grain of truth there, but consider it a grain in a bushel. Neuropathy, as crummy as it feels, is indicative of the nerves being impinged but not cell death. If the tingling gradually goes away, that's more indicative of cell death. Being uncomfortable is not a sign of cell loss. And yes, with repeated abuse, your nerves will atrophy, or eventually die, but the timescale is pretty long, and we're both pretty young.

MSCs look really good at regenerating the nucleus pulpous, possibly restoring disk height to 'normal'. Restoring the nucleus should be sufficient for normal disc function, but may not be sufficient. Discs bulge (for the most part) due to intra-annular tears. This implies a need to repair the annulus - sort of. The posterior portion of the annulus (the part that impinges upon nerve roots) can be excised without a loss of disc integrity (provided the nucleus is sufficiently strong).
Anyways, I'm babbling. I think about this too much.

Write me a message if you want to talk about regenerative therapies or just vent.

Hello I just got diagnosed with DDD today. I am 26 years old, I have never had any accidents or trauma to my back. The doctors are avoiding surgery for now because of my age. My worst disk is L5 S1 with it pushing on the nerves that affect my right leg. Also L4/5 and L3/4 are also not doing welll either. I have scoliosis but not severe and was diagnosed with that as a child so I thought my random bouts of pain were from that. Recently the pain has gotten worse and had not gone away so thats when my new orthopedic doctor sent me for an MRI. She was shocked. She said the conclusion that she can come up with right now is that it is genetic but no one in my family has had it this bad that we know of. So I am of to start PT for my back to see if that helps at all.

Spinal problem. DDD= Degenerative Disc Disease. For starters it is not a disease. DDD is basically the aging of our spines. Almost every person by the time they reach 25 will show some sign of DDD. For some people it will happen sooner, for others later on in life, but its basically inevitable. Some articles written about DDD refer to it as 'The Graying of our Spine, just like our hair will turn gray'
There are other situations in which people getting it sooner and more severe. There have been articles written about the genetic aspect of DDD, but to me, since we all will eventually get it to some degree, how much is genetic?
The part of genetics may play a role for those people who get it at any early age (13-15). What also can bring it on more rapidly is trauma or spinal surgery.
The good news about DDD, in most cases surgery is not required. Surgery is only used for the more server cases of DDD. With approved exercise and NSAIDS many people can manage and control DDD so that they can continue to go on with the need of pain medications.

Spinal Stenosis is similar only in that depending on the severity of the case, surgery may be the only answer. From articles that I have read, its hard to really identify if the Stenosis came after a result of surgery, thus the narrowing of the spinal nerve canal or is it genetic.

Bottom line, spinal problems do not discriminate with Age, You can never been too young or too old to have to deal with the chronic pain of one of many spinal problems.

What does happen, is that in younger people some medical professionals shrug it off because "They are too young"
That is unfair and unjust. If you are in a situation like that, my advice would be to find another medical professional who will look at your condition and not use your age as a stumbling block.

I also believe the sooner spinal conditions are addressed, the better chances for more successful recovery.

On the flip side, there is always things to worry about.
"If I am 20 and have disc problems what will I be like when I am 50"

Well, I can give you some insight.
I started with back problems when I was 15. At 19 I had my first disc related incident that because of my age, it was overlooked. After years of dealing with various back problems, I finally had the first of four lumbar surgeries.
As time went on, I had 3 cervical surgeries and now I am living with 4 herniated thoracic discs.
Im 58 now.
I am slower, its takes me a while to get going in the morning, and its not easy having to deal with chronic pain all your life. What is so very important is to have a solid support system as the years go on. This is something that you should never have to face alone.
And I have found that one of the key's to dealing with all of this is to have a positive attitude and a never-give-in approach. Look at chronic pain as being the "Beast". It can be cruel, sometimes you never know when it will stike, but always feel that you will never let the Beast win.

My 15 yo daughter was just diagnosed with DDD and a herniated disc at L5. The neurosurgeon said he could perform a fusion or complete disc replacement on her. I'm not very thrilled about that at such a young age. Besides, two months ago he said she's too young for surgery but now he's OK with it.

I don't want her in pain but I don't want her to have surgery either.

I've been checking out many different avenues that might help her. Inversion therapy and exercising are the main ones. I had also read an article about Gulcosume and chondritin (sorry about the spelling) for DDD. The study was done on an older person (50's I think) and they took the Gulcosume and Chondritin for two years and the before and after MRIs showed the previously degenerated disc had increased in size. I'm not saying this is a cure all or if it even will work but looking at the alternitive (surgery) I'm willing to have her try anything first.

There was another procedure, an OP-1 injection by Stryker Biotech. It's supposed to help regenerate degenerated discs. I just found out about it from my dad but I haven't reasearch on it yet.

I hope some of this might help. I gives me some hope for my daughter.

Darren

Hi,

I had problems as a teen that ended in a discectomy at the age of 19. Had some good and some bad years in between, and just had a two level fusion last week at the age of 27. Doc gives the disc above these 10-15 years. I will take that chance and hope for the best!

One Love,

Stephanie

wow... this is my first time on here (so thankful i found this place!), and i just wrote an entire blurb and it all disappeared when i tried to post it--- so here I go again.

I had a spinal fusion at 14yrs. old for Spondylolithesis L5, i'm now 20. The surgery went great i was able to get back to playing sports-- no pain, problems... etc. I now have pain on the back of my skull and chronic migrains... my neurologist just took MRI of my lower back (b/c i insist the pain in my skull is related to the pain in my back) and just this last week (yes, right before Christmas) told me i have DDD and minor misalignment... so it's back to my spinal doctor for specifics. I don't know what my options are... i have done a TON of research... i mean disc replacement? another spinal fusion? I'm only 20!!

sorry i got off on a tangent.

i know what you are saying... it is so frustrating to be in this position. most of the research is directed towards older people---

my spinal fusion was a good thing... i am starting to doubt if i should have been as hard core w/sports-- Varsity Basketball, Sports Condtioning Aerobics, kickboxing... etc. as i was... I just don't know anymore. I don't know if i regret it b/c i think that would be a waste of time. I loved those times and the things i did, i love being active... it's who i am. i feel trapped.

I'm angry. But i have hope! I do have hope.

I really hope that this new surgeon you are going to see gives you some hopeful-promising news and the MRI goes well! Keep your head up! : )

do you have any advice about my newly discovered DDD? I have no clue have bad it is... until i talk w/my back surgeon.

~Suzanne

Hi, i am 29 and have a badly herniated disc at L5/S1. The Neuro said that disc and the disc at L4/L5 are pretty much shot, but didnt say if it was DDD or didnt give it a specific name. He said there are 2 options. Microdiscectomy or fusion. I am choosing the Micro just to get the sciatica pain out of my leg and the disc removed off the nerve. I dotn have much if any back pain right now, but have in the past and has come and gone for about the past 10 years. I am hoping the Micro works well enough to get me walking and moving around normally again. I then want to explore other passive options to "Save" whats left of the bad discs and control them from further deterioration. I havent had any accidents or major trauma to have caused this. I feel its somewhat hereditary as my dad has always had a bad back, but i dont ever remember him having the problems i have. Anyways, i go in next Wed. to have the Micro. done. I do get tired of everybody saying that I am too young to have back surgery. Why am i too young? What constitutes being too young. I mean, if theres a problem and its not going to go away without surgery, then that tells me that you cant be too young. Yeah, theres conservative options like therapy, but when i went, it only made things worse. Then they wanted to do an epidural. Well thats just a glorified expensive band-aid that overtime will cause scar tissue and create future problems.

I am 22 and have already had back surgery for DDD. I woke up one morning and had a pain in my right leg from my butt down. I ended up going to a chiropractor for a month and a half. When that didn't help, I went to my family doctor. He refused to do an MRI, so I was forced to try physical therapy. The physical therapist made me stretch my hamstrings which hurt alot and brought tears to my eyes. After the 2nd physical therapy visit, my bladder shut down. I didn't urinate for 4 days. I went to the ER and had to get a catheter, which I ended up having for 15 days. When I went to the urologist, he said there was nothing wrong with my bladder and ordered the MRI. That test said I had discs that had burst in my back, and pieces of them were laying on the nerves controlling my bladder and bowels. I was sent to one back surgeon about 1 1/2 hours from home and he wouldn't do the surgery due to my age and the extensive damage. He sent me to a doctor 4 hours away the very next day. That back surgeon done emergency surgery. As soon as I came out of surgery, the pain was gone!!! Yes, I was sore, but what surgery do you come out of not being sore? I should know, I've had about 12 surgeries...ears, tonsils, adnoids, cysts removed...belive me, I was a very sick child. My back muscles did have to take some time to heal, so I did use a walker the first 3 days that I came home from the hospital. I was told that I wasn't supposed to have the surgery till I was 50, but my bladder had shut down completely and my bowels were almost shut down. I was told I may be disabled for life, that I may have a catheter for the rest of my life. I thought I'd be off work forever. But I proved the doctors wrong. I had surgery on a Saturday night, the catheter came out on Sunday afternoon and I regained control of my bladder. I also went back to work 8 weeks after I had my surgery. I take care of people with mental retardation and have to do lifting in my job, and I can still do it. Before my surgery, my pain was so bad that the only thing I could do was lay down. It hurt to even raise up my leg while I was laying down. I made myself go to work until I got the catheter put in.

For anyone considering surgery, I recommend it if your doctor feels it will help. Alot of people I talked to before my surgery was advising me against it, but I wanted to get rid of the pain. I had tried everything else and the condition had gotten so bad as to give me cauda equina syndrome. My back surgeon also told me that if I take care of my back, I may not have to have another back surgery for 20-30 years, instead of the 10-15.

Hey there,

I just had an L4-L5 fusion in December to help treat my DDD. I am 22 and was 21 when I had the surgery done. I also had a microdisectomy done when I was 20. I had been dealing with constant pain for years and just decided it wasn't fair to suffer anymore. I wanted to live a normal life for my age! My doctor did everything in his power to keep me out of surgery and it got to the point that you're at, live with it or get surgery. The only difference is that I went with the surgery.

The fusion was a long process. The hospital stay was 4 days for me and the first couple of days were very painful. Once out of the hospital, my initial back back had been gone and everyday got better and better for me. Its now been 3 months and I still am unable to work or do anything other than walk, but overall I am feeling pretty good. I am SO excited to be able to run and be athletic again (played soccer for 18 years).

I wish you luck in deciding what you want to do. Message me if you have any other questions

Take care!

hello wow and i bet we all thought we was alone !
i too have ddd and scrolosis at age 12 the didnot find the ddd till i was 18, im now 26 seeing a pain mgt dr. i still feel nonstop pain somestimes when u feel like no one cares theres always YOU CARE WE CARE ALL THAT SUFFER WILL UNDERSTAND AND CARE, IM so tired of living this way i have 3 awsome children that need me .. i belive if you can talk your mind into thinking positive and not neg. the avg. person think 300 neg a day wow yea by the end of the day u want to breakdown lol but if you wake up thinking only positive thoughts ur day will be the best you make it THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS: wake saying i feel good, todays gonna be a great day, & stay positive !!! your friend sarah 26

hello
My NAME IS SARAH im 26 & suffer with many problems lol i have a few medical conditions: anxity, depression, DDD & scroliosis (s shaped spine) i was told i had this at age 12 a brace was out of the question because of how badly s shaped & i was to young or small for surgery, i did physcial therapy 3xs a week for about 4 years. the DDD they found after my first child age 18. i worked as a CNA i felt pain an overwelming kife in my back... they ordered an MRI and the results were 4 degenerated discs in my low back i was in pain overwelmed & really anxious and did not understand what else he said tissue tearing and disc buldging ahh ahh and 4 that are just bones rubbing ... i felt overwelmed anyways im now 26, i have 3 children to make a longer story short ive tried everything, every dr. says theres nothing they can do besides meds, i was scared. ill learn to suffer with my pain, a constent ach in my back that never really goes away. i had my 3rd child & could not bear the pain so i finally went to see a pain dr 8months ago. im now addicted to lortab & morphine. suks in pain & when i try 2 get off the meds i go threw another sickness...but i need to stay positive! the reason im posting this is i just wanted to know if we could be friends maybe shareing the same type of problems. we can chat or be like supporters 4 each other. please let me know sincerly sarah

I have been having constant back pain but it wasn't until i got big into weight training and while at work had a bike fall onto my back and then got into a car accident a few months later til it got to the point to where i needed pain meds just to get through a day without lifting weights. Since then i have not been able to workout like i use to and recently had an MRI done and was told i have DDD. I'm 22 and man since i had to quit working out i've gained so much weight back, i've lost my fiance cuz i couldn't be there for her, i've lost friends just cuz i can't do the same things they can. I can only play a game of basketball of baseball for a short time before i have to take another pill or sit out, as far as football comes along u can call that out. AND THATS MY SPORT!! lol...i hate how ppl keep telling me they understand just cuz they have a bum knee or messed up shoulder, they don't understand how i am in pain 24/7, sitting, standing, sleeping all the time...idk, it just bugs me...anyways i have been doing more research into DDD and was wondering if there is anything yall know that ya think i should know. thanks for anything

Well I am back. I posted awhile ago well now I am in an extreme amount of pain, worse then the pain I have felt before. I went to the ortho doc last week and she still says no one will touch me for surgery b/c of my age. I will have too many screws and rods to put in and that will just cause a different kind of pain. This spout of pain has been going on for over a week now. My legs feel like they are about to go out on me and thats not good since I have 3 kids and my youngest is 10 months so I have to carry him. The pain meds are not working and I just dont know what to do. I feel like if someone were to hit me with a sledge hamer on my back it would feel better then the pain I am in right now. The only option I have now is waiting to hear from the pain clinic to see if they MIGHT be able to do injections to help. I am about to give up. I am sooooo frustrated with this stupid DDD I dont know what to do. Thanks for listening to my rant!

reading all these storys makes me upset b/c it sounds as if ddd only has 2 options....

hard core drug use or suicide....

Hi, I am currently waiting to have a ALIF at the end of June, I have lived with my back problems for 17 years and I have decided that enough is enough, I am in england and the waiting list for any treatment on the NHS is crazy, I have three children, I haven't worked since December.

I am currently taking oral morph and am on a load of different types of meds depending on how I feel when I wake up, I have had so much great info since finding this site that when I was told that the only option for my back was a fusion, I was relieved that something was going to be done at long last, its been a fight to get it this far, but I have tried everything and at least now I have this to look forward to and reading what others are and have been going through has helped me with my decision to have the surgery.

This site has been great for advice and information, I just hope that my surgery happens in June if not then I have to wait till the end of August as my surgeon is on holiday for all of July and I get married in August!!

I am still smiling ( although my brave face does slip occasionally and I have days when I cry all day) I am trying to remain positive and I can see a light at the end of the tunnel,
Best wishes to you all and take it easy

Layla x

So, I herniated my l4-l5 disk on July 11th, 2006. This was the night before my wedding! I spent the entire wedding and honeymoon in excruciating pain. Needless to say, no honeymoon babies... lol The pain finally went away after about 2 weeks. In January of 2008, I woke up one monrning unable to move. I was rushed to the hospital and spent 3 days there on pain meds out the wazoo. I was given PT and some pain meds and that worked for a bit, that is until April 2008. I was screaming and crying, could not feel my left leg and had a huge accident on our new couch. My PCP sent me to a spine surgeon and he performed a diskectomy. I felt immediate relief of the pain, but the accidents and numbness have never gone away. Now I am nearly cripped with pain. The accidents have become a part of life... Last MRI he told me I was fine! I got a second and now a third opinion. The third opinion doctor is going to be doing my fusion on May 19th. I know the back pain will never go away, but at least it will be managable with that dang disk gone.

Hey

Recently got the DDD diagnosis (L4-5, L5-S1, teared, bulged, pronated, damaged, hydric loss you name it); I'm 24 and I've had back pain since I was 19.

I'm fairly sure I have this problem because as a cook I had lumbar sprains on top of the other and thus changing the alignment of my spine and damaging the discs because of vertebral pressure.

I finished my basic training not a long time ago and the physiotherapists are definitely on the hard line: no surgeries, only self-improvement.

Doing squats and sit-ups is torture for me. Carrying weight on the front of my body is excruciatingly difficult.

But...swimming alleviates the pain because it is back extension, therefore the vertebraes have less pressure on the discs. Also, a good physiotherapist can help you with the dynamic control of the core region (lower back,abs and upper buttock).

Building muscle around these parts help support the vertebraes and alleviates the pain, it also prevents other crisis episodes by making you stronger.

Wow - other young people thrown into a life of managing DDD and chronic pain - I was starting to feel (even though I knew I wasn't) I was the only one. I have my three lower discs that have ruptured and one in my thorasic spine, diagnosed a year and half ago when I was 24. Spent 9 months trying medication, exercise, TENS unit before an MRI was done.

Recently had microdiscetomy surgery but not sure the outcomes have worked yet as still having back pain 3 months on. I am having another MRI done next week.

Finding it hard to cope with the chroinc pain and living the life of a 25 year old. Alot of things have been put on hold and now I am realsing tha it may not be about these things being on hold - but how I am going to move forward with back pain!

I'm in the same boat as you. 21 years old, pain since 14 or 15, and only was DXed on Monday. A lot of wasted years in pain and no clue if I could have prevented it or at least prevented its worsening during that time. Anyway, I was told it was L4/L5 and L5/S1 for me, plus a bulge of some sort but I don't remember exactly what the doctor said after that because I was so upset. (I had been in the Air Force and had hopes of maybe possibly getting back in one day). I just did a post about this problem but I'm having an extremely hard time finding work that won't make me sit, stand, or pick things up, and especially in this economy in a college town. I'm freaking out a bit because I've got no income and I don't know how to pay the bills.

It's really frustrating having DDD so young, knowing that our best and most carefree years (in terms of things like chronic pain) were over so quickly.

Hello all,
I too, have DDD that was diagnosed at 24 yrs old. Now 2 yrs later and 1 ALIF later... I wish like hell I would have never got the surgery!! My experience has been terrible. I did everything the Dr told me to and still in pain every day! And the pain is 100x's worse than b4 the surgery. I wish I could just go back when I was 10 and never have this type of pain again! On top of that the surgery cost around $120,000, thank God for my insurance and my husband.

Just my experience with the surgery... I know it has helped some but unfortunately... I wasn't in that category.

I am now 33. I have many levels that are completely degenerated (black on MRI and no longer the right shape): C3-4, t10-11, 11-12, 12-L1, L2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-S1
Each year it seems there is a new level that is effected. I have had multi level Plasma Disc Decompression done on the Lumbar and had about 5-6 months of complete relief. I am going to have it redone. I'm tired of having shots for the 2-3 weeks of temporary relief. The PDD is much better!!
I am very concerned being only 33 that my life will be shortened by this condition. I understand that DDD itself is not life threatening but dealing with the pain and what is injected as well as taken orally will eventually take a toll on my health. Not to mention the depression that I have dealt with for 11 years due to the pain and loss of my professional sports career.
I'm very interested in the latest stem cell research to regenerate discs. Anyone know of anything in regards to this?

My problems all started right before I turned 18. I just turned 30 not even two weeks ago. I just posted my whole story in the new member section, but here it is as well: