hi! i have DDD in my back and cannot sit for longer than 30 minutes without severe pain. since DDD can do so much damage i am sure the symptoms can be very different for everyone. in the main though you know it all adds up to more pain! good luck and i hope you find a treatment plan to help alleviate some of your pain. Jenny

Thirty min. is my maximum. But for me twenty min. of standing is even worse.
Good luck, Jim

but there are newer mri's where they can see you sitting. My pt told mer about it because its the most compression your spine when sitting and my pain gets worse.

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DDD itself should not cause the problem you are describing.
Instead, if you have a disc(s) that is impinging on your nerve toot,that could surface more while sitting.
My last Lumbar surgery was in the late 1980's. Still to this day, I have limits as to how long I can remain seated and also the comfort level of the chairs that I use.

You are correct about the different MRI's The best imaging is associated with the normal standard MRI (laying in a tube) The other MRI's, sitting, open etc are more comfortable but can not produce the same details and clarity.

What are the details from your MRI? You mention disc problems, specifically in your thoracic area. Which T-discs are you talking about. The different T-disc problems will show pain and discomfort at different parts of your body

Last year I was sent for a CT/myelogram because my surgeon was contemplating a microdiscectomy for an L4*5 herniation. I had the MRI earlier and it said there was postential for compression of both L5 nerve roots, and the thecal sac was indented. Things became concusive when I was stood up for the CT, and the dye showed the nerve impringement a whole lot better. The doctor then felt comfortable proceeding with my surgery.

Hi,
I have DDD DX . They said it would not get any worse after sixty. I also have cystic kidney disease and was wondering if the pain can be related I have a slew of cysts the biggest one is around 9cm or the size of a baseball they say and a whole bunch of grape looking ones.
For the last few years I have been monitoring their growth. I was wondering if it could be pushing on the nerves in my back.
My lower lumbar 2&3 are real close together and it is too painfull to excercize.
Although I had every opportunity to go in the pool I never did the swimming I opted to sit or stay out of the heat. But lifting is becoming a memory and walking any distance thing of the past.
I really don't trust them enough to go under the knife. But my urologist gave me some tiger patches he had on hand and they seemed to help so did icy hot heat patches but it is temporary relief. I wish they had plastic back bones.

I have a herniation at T6-T7, tears at T5-T8 (T5-T7 positive pain generators,facet block positive for T6-T7, DDD, foraminal narrowing ( the sitting Fonar MRI found this when recumbant did not )at T10-T12 ( I may be mistaken about these levels not at home to verify). Stenosis in cervical. I was actually hoping the sitting MRI would show my herniation getting compressed more but it still was at 3-4mm. I did not understand because the sitting is killing me. And to answer backpainishell I would be more concerned about the person reading it, but also pick the best MRI machine. I had one MRI machine not see the herniation and another more advanced pick it up. Also had radiologist who did not see herniation on more recent MRI so had person who saw it on first compare films and he said it was still there and of same size. Make a big difference because my LTD was saying I was healed and should not be in pain anymore after seeing first reports.