cervical ddd, thoracic djd,ddd scoliosis present

joseyandrewben

41 year old male. Cervical ddd for 9 years. I have major depression and social anxiety (severe). I just started having bad mid back pain about 8 months ago. I had x-rays done of my thoracic spine 2-10-10. It said spurring on several of the endplates. Also read mild to moderate djd and ddd. Also read scoliosis is present. My doctor didn't seem to alarmed. She is going to send me to a pain doctor. Is this normal at my age? I have 3 young kids and it's hard to do a whole lot with them. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.

inchworm

Hello, and welcome to S-H.

You haven't said anything about your lifestyle or previous injuries and insults to your back but scoliosis is never normal. Is this possibly something longstanding from childhood? Scoliosis can also be degenerative in nature, and in fact that's what I have but I'm nearly 62 years old.

As for the degeneration of your spine, it is a normal result of aging but I don't think having thoracic degeneration is typical and you seem rather young to be having that much problem. As I understand from what I read, spinal degeneration doesn't necessarily cause pain but being depressed can and does exaggerate any pain that you already have and it can be the trigger for many aches and pains in a body.

joseyandrewben

Hello. Thanks for the welcome. I have always done manual labor. Mostly lumber work. I have had quite a few injuries at work,but at the time i never followed up with doc appointments. I applied for SSDI and am awaiting a hearing. I know the thoracic spine is least likely to cause problems. I guess I am starting at the neck and going to degenerate all the way down. When did your problems start?

inchworm

I never had problems with my back before age 25, although I have a hunch I didn't do it any good when I sat down hard on concrete at age 12 and broke my tailbone. But at age 25 I herniated a lumbar disc after bending over for 15 minutes while shoveling grain--never straightened up once--then when I tried to straighten up I couldn't. Couldn't raise my legs to put them on a footstool and could hardly walk for 2 weeks. The acute symptoms gradually went away but I was left with back pain at night and only found partial relief from that when I started sleeping on an air bed many years later.

Those were the early "insults" to my back and now my back is deteriorating at a rather alarming pace. Just found out a couple of months ago that I have degenerative scoliosis but it made sense because I've noticed a 2" loss in height over the last 4-5 years. I also have lumbar stenosis which causes excrutiating leg cramps. My cervical spine has started to degenerate, as would be expected at my age, but I suddenly herniated a disc last spring and can tell there's another one about ready to go. A year ago my cervical MRI showed broad-based disc osteophytes, facet joint hypertrophy, mild to moderate central canal stenosis at a couple of levels and significant arthritis at one level, plus loss of the normal curve in my neck and some anterolisthesis (vertebrae out of alignment) at one cervical level. Haven't had an MRI of my lumbar spine yet but am told I've more than likely herniated lumbar discs twice over the years and I now have intermittent nerve pain in my right leg and am told it's probably a disc pressing on a nerve. I'm a female who has always done physical work and often times lifted things that were beyond the strength of my female frame. I figured some day I would pay for it and I am, but I'm still able to lift things (with my doctor's okay) and do what I want to do, although nowadays I limit my lifting to things that are not too heavy for me and I try to always use good body mechanics.

joseyandrewben

Wow. You are very good at keeping up with your medical history. You are very right about the body mechanics, that makes a big difference. My mother just turned 63, she has the same problems I do. My father passed away at 56 from heart disease. His father at 53 from bone cancer. Hopefully I will make it to at least 60's. Take care and keep in touch.

inchworm

The only reason I've got my spinal medical history so readily in mind is because I'm currently experiencing problems. I was having my back evaluated for stenosis when I got the diagnosis of scoliosis a couple of months ago and I was astonished, to say the least. I looked back at the history on my back and asked questions, etc. Anyway, like all of us, I'm "a work in progress" or maybe it would be better stated, "a work in regress". I never know if a new day will bring pain in my legs or pain in my neck, or both, lol.

Take care, yourself, and let us know how you do with your back issues.

BAHARNETT

DOES SSDI CONSIDER THIS CONDTION SERIOUS ENOUGH FOR YOU TO BE DISABLED....I HAD A FALL AT THE AGE OF 16 AND HURT AND SUPPOSEDLY MOVED THE TAIL BONE..ONCE IN A WHILE MY BACK WOULD HURT BUT NOTHING TO CRY ABOUT.
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lace for me BUT IVE DONE THIS FOR THE LAST 14 YEARS WHAT OTHER JOB CAN I DO... I KNOW EVERY DAY I WOULD LEAVE WORK AND MY PAIN WAS LIKE A 7 EVERY DAY IT WAS GETTING TO MESS WITH YOUR HEAD VERY DEPRESSING... COULDNT EVEN DO THE DAILY CHORES OF MAKING DINNER GIVING MY 4 YEAR OLD A BATH.SO I HAVE BEEN HOME FOR 2 WEEKS NOW FEELING A LITTLE BIT BETTER BUT I HAVE BEEN OFF MY FEET FOR A WHILE AND GETTING A LOT OF SLEEP..DOCTOR IS GOING RE-EVALUATE ME THIS WEEK..ALSO HOW DOES A DOCTOR DETMINE IF THE CAR ACCIDENT MADE EVERYTHING WORSE... GOIN NUTS ANY ADVICE