Neck Degenerative Disc Disease

With all of the diagnosed diseases in the world, there is one that can cause a great deal of pain for some patients. The whole spine is susceptible to getting degenerative discs, but the area that it most effects is the cervical spine, or the neck. In just a few moments you will have an understanding as to why this is, and it makes a lot of sense as to why this region has the most problems with this.

The cervical area sits up above the thoracic. The thoracic spine is very protected from injury for the most part. There are ribs to protect the area and the body is positioned with a great deal of muscle in that region, the back muscles and the chest muscles. The head sits up on the top of the body and depending on your genetics your head can weigh ten pounds or even fifteen or more. When you stand up straight this weight is constantly being pushed down by gravity. This puts direct pressure on the discs and joints of the back. This is all fine and all, but here is where the problem is. The problem comes about with injuries. This region can get injured very easily. A simple car crash can wreck havoc on this area. There is just not much around it to protect it, so the area gets hurt. The ligaments and tendons are supposed to keep everything tight, with lack of other words to describe it. When those tissues are torn they can become lax. When this happens the disc gets worked more than it should. The areas above and below can become more tight, or stiff. This can cause problems above and below because now there is not enough movement.

The degeneration can happen when there is too much movement at the area. The c5 c6 disc is the main point of focus because it is the main area that separates the two areas of the spine. It is the area that can get the most about of unwanted motion, while causing less motion above and below. Over time the area starts to want to basically grow together. This is why the space gets less and the bones start to grow osteophytes. The neck is a very delicate area for the spine. It is an area that is often injured and it is not the best thing because the nerves that come from the brain travel to the rest of the body from this region. The best thing to do for this is to get the motion moving again. Get the areas that are fixated moving again, and the areas that are moving too much to heal up.