Degenerative Disc Disease Support Group
Degeneration of the intervertebral disc, which is often called "degenerative disc disease" (DDD) of the spine, DDD is in fact a condition that can be painful and can greatly affect the quality of one's life. While disc degeneration is not a normal part of aging and for most people is not a problem, for certain individuals a degenerated disc can cause severe constant...
Hi! I am new to this site and thought I would try telling my daughters story to see if I could find someone else that has gone through the same thing or has a child that has or is going through the same thing also. My daughter was 14 when she started complaining of her back hurting. After a couple of months it got worse with hip and leg pain now. I took her to the sports medicine phyisician. He did an MRI that showed 2 herniated disc at L4-L5 and L5-S1. He referred her to a spinal surgeon. He put her on a steroid pack and antiflammatory meds but with no luck. I took her to a chiropractor with no luck either. So that doctor just said she was gonna have to live with it because she was to young to do epidural injections. So I had to find another doctor. He sent her for 3 different epidural injections which didnt help either. But he said if she was in her 30's he would do surgery on her but he wouldnt because of her age. So we had to find another doctor once again. She is 15 by now and we found a very good doctor that agreed that she was a good candidate for laser surgery for her herniated discs. Because of the severe pain she was in and she had to quit all sports. Wasnt able to do things with friends anymore because she couldnt stand or walk more than 10 minutes without having severe pain she wasnt getting to live a normal teenage life. Thats why we decided to go ahead with the surgery. That surgery only lasted 8 months then the pain was back again. She had another MRI done and it showed that her disc were bad and all dried up. He said he could do another surgery to help with her leg pain and then hopefully she could deal with the back pain till she got older to get a fusion. So thats what we did. That one only lasted 2 months. So now he wants to try one more epidural injection and rasing her gabapentin to 3600mg a day and if that dont work her only option is a fusion. Im just trying to find someone who has gone through this at an early age or know someone. I am wanting to find someone who has had a 2 level fusion as a teenage for ddd. There was no injury that caused this. It started off as a gradual thing then progressed. Shes now 16 and we just need someone elses opinion that might know a little more. I want to know 100 percent that im making the right decision about a fusion before we do it. If anyone could help that would be great. Thanks so much!!
We found out with a MRI that my son has JDDD, bulging and herniated disk. He was 18 when we found out due to a work injury.
I'm lost and don't know what to do. The Work Comp specialist said that he has been treated for lumbar sprain, that the JDDD, bulging and herniated most likely were there before. 2 years ago we went to the doctor because he was complaining of his back. A XRay was done and only saw mild scoliosis. He was told to build up his core muscles.
Anyway, he was not in much pain, just discomfort and joined weight lifting which most likely did not help know knowing that he had an underlying condition.
I'm very upset. He moved to college and i'm having trouble finding a doctor with her insurance. I'm even pretty sure that our personal insurance will put it on the work injury while the work comp said that he had back sprain and that everything else was there before.
I'm worried and don't know what we should do. He does not seem to complain. He is back to how he was before the injury so maybe they are right and he only had a sprain.
What did your daughter end up having? How is she doing?
Please let me know.