Our Chiropractors Can Help with Degenerative Disc Disease

Posted on27 May 2024,in

By Dr. Rusty Lavender, D.C. — upper cervical chiropractor, Lavender Family Chiropractic, Sarasota, FL. Reviewed and updated October 2026.

Our complete guide to neck pain treatment in Sarasota covers the causes of neck pain, when it points to the top of the neck, and how we evaluate it with 3D imaging.

Our bodies are subject to wear and tear every day, but some parts suffer more than others. Your lower back is one such part. It has to bear most of your weight and carry you upright. Any kind of weight lifting you do will be definitely felt by your back. The most likely elements of your back to suffer are the discs – the rubbery cushions between the vertebrae. In time, they wear out, the vertebrae and backbones sink and they start pressing against the nerves. This is, in short, the definition of degenerative disc disease. The good news is that the chiropractors at our clinic can help you find relief from this condition.

What Are the Main Causes of Degenerative Disc Disease?

Wear and tear of the body is a normal part of aging, but not everyone suffers from degenerative disc disease (DDD). People who do manual labor involving a lot of weight lifting (construction workers, warehouse workers) are more at risk.

However, our chiropractors treated patients with DDD who did not perform weight lifting on a regular basis. Instead, the triggering factor for their condition was:

• Disc desiccation – the discs between the vertebrae can become dry and brittle, especially due to frequent dehydration and smoking

• Accidents and trauma – car crashes, slip and fall accidents or sports accidents can result in injury to the discs

• Obesity – overweight people tend to suffer from various back problems, including degenerative disc disease, due to the extra pressure on the spine

• Bone and muscle weakness – maintaining an erect posture requires support from your bones and muscles. If they are weakened, the entire effort is transferred to the spine.

Recognizing the Symptoms of Degenerative Disc Disease

DDD usually manifests itself through immobility in the lower back and mild to severe pain. However, many patients also experience the following symptoms:

•    Numbness in the legs

•    Pain when sitting down, bending or lifting weights

•    Tingling or burning sensation in the lower back

•    Sciatica – a type of pain affecting the lower back, hips and upper legs due to pressure on the sciatic nerve.

If you experience any of these symptoms, you may have degenerative disc disease. In this case, you should see a chiropractor at our clinic as soon as possible, before the condition worsens.

Why Treat Degenerative Disc Disease with Chiropractic?

Western medicine doctors will probably recommend pain medication in the early stages of DDD and, later on, surgery. This means that you numb your pain until your condition is sufficiently serious to warrant a highly invasive and risky procedure.

Chiropractors at our clinic believe that people deserve to live free of pain, not just numb their pain. We can help delay the onset of DDD and relieve many of its unpleasant symptoms. Our approach is to treat the entire person, not just their back.

This involves:

1. Identifying the Cause of Degenerative Disc Disease

We will look at your medical history and give you a thorough physical evaluation in order to know what exactly triggered DDD. Depending on the root cause, we will crate a personalized treatment plan for you.

2. Performing Specific Chiropractic Therapies

Each patient is unique, so we will devise a different set of chiropractic manipulations and therapies for every case. Our aim is to:

•    Improve mobility in the lower back

•    Strengthen your muscles

•    Reduce inflammation in the discs

•    Remove the cause of pain.

3. Giving You Helpful Lifestyle Advice

Every part of your body is influenced by your lifestyle. A saying goes that after the age of 30 we are all responsible for how we look. This is true for the entire body. A poor diet, rich in sugar and fatty foods, very little physical activity and habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol have a negative impact on every aspect of your health.

Our chiropractors will give you helpful tips to live a more active and healthier life in order to prevent a new bout of degenerative disc disease.

We are here for everyone who wants to feel good, active and energized during their entire lifetime. We have natural, non-invasive and safe solutions for any back problem, including degenerative disc disease. Call our clinic now to book an appointment with an experienced chiropractor!

What the Research Says About Degenerative Disc Disease in the Neck

Degenerative disc changes in the neck are extremely common with age, and one of the most important findings in the literature is that what shows up on a scan does not predict how a person feels. A Mayo Clinic review notes that imaging findings correlate poorly with neck symptoms and that most neck pain is mechanical in origin (Cohen, Mayo Clin Proc 2015). For that reason the Ontario clinical practice guideline advises against routine imaging for neck pain and recommends manual therapy, exercise and education instead (Côté et al., Eur Spine J 2016). When a worn disc does irritate a nerve root, most patients with recent-onset cervical radiculopathy improve over months without surgery, and a collar with rest or physiotherapy eased arm and neck pain faster than wait-and-see in the first six weeks (Kuijper et al., BMJ 2009).

Disc wear does not happen evenly across the neck. A review of chronic neck pain points to capsular ligament laxity and cervical instability as drivers, with the C0 to C2 region at the top especially dependent on ligaments for stability (Steilen et al., Open Orthop J 2014). Manual care for the painful neck is well supported: a Cochrane review of 51 trials found cervical manipulation and mobilization produce meaningful short-term improvement in pain and function (Gross et al., Cochrane 2015). No study in our citation pool tests upper cervical chiropractic for degenerative disc disease directly, so we speak to the neck pain component. We image the atlas in 3D, deliver a gentle correction matched to those images, and re-measure, so the worn segments lower in the neck are not left compensating for a misaligned top.

Frequently Asked Questions

What causes degenerative disc disease?

Discs wear down when load is distributed unevenly over years. Injuries, posture, genetics, and age all play a role, but the upper cervical factor is often missed: when the atlas is misaligned, the head sits off center and the spine below compensates, loading some discs more than others. We measure atlas position on 3D CBCT imaging and correct it to restore more balanced load distribution.

What symptoms suggest DDD might involve the upper neck?

Neck or back stiffness that is worse on one side, headaches at the base of the skull, pain that shifts with head position, and tension that returns no matter how much you stretch all suggest the head is being carried off center. Your physician should review any numbness, weakness, or severe pain. Our evaluation with 3D imaging and thermography shows whether the atlas is contributing.

Why treat degenerative disc disease with upper cervical chiropractic?

Because degeneration is a load problem, and the load starts at the head. We cannot regrow a disc, but correcting the atlas changes how the ten-pound head is carried, which changes the strain on every disc below. The Knee Chest correction is precise and low force, with no twisting of an already worn spine. Thermography before and after confirms the nervous system response. Results vary.

How do you identify whether the atlas is the cause?

We use 3D cone-beam CT of the upper cervical spine to see the atlas and axis from every angle, which flat X-rays cannot show. A baseline thermography scan reveals whether nervous system regulation is uneven. Together they tell us whether a misalignment is present and how your body is responding to it. If the upper neck is not involved, we say so and refer you.

Do you see DDD patients from Bradenton and Venice?

Yes. Our Sarasota office at University Parkway and Whitfield is minutes from Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch and about thirty minutes from Venice. Care plans are individual and reassessed with thermography at every visit, with no preset packages. We coordinate with your physician or orthopedist and share imaging on request. Call (941) 243-3729 to schedule an evaluation.