My brother recently hurt his back playing Frisbee with the boys. Doc says it's "Degenerative spine disease" that's very common among athletes. Brother is in great shape, so this was a surprise. We just thought he sprained his back when it happened.
Does anyone have any personal experience with this? How "concerned" should I be? What's the usual course of action. Right now he's on muscle relaxant and pain killers + bed rest.

The diagnosis of spine disease is usually done following an MRI with and without contrast. This will look for at the disk space ruling out a disk herniation or protrusion. There can also be diagnosis (depending on which part of the back) following a nerve conduction study.

I do not see my patients on bed rest with this type of injury, just limited mobility. If they put him (more than likely) on flexeril they are thinking more of a muscle strain and are trying to soothe the area. Depending on what pain med they put him on as well as what other type of medications/health history he should also be on an NSAID like aleve, ibuprofen, etc.

With age it is uncommon to not see degenerative arthritis in any joint or in the spine. Please make sure he was either seen by an orthopedic physician or a spinal specialist. They can perform the right tests to make sure he is treated correctly.

Depending on how old the injury ice or heat pads will help. With both use them for 20 minutes on, then 20 minutes off as it can have the adverse effect. There is also the topical agents that can be used. We see the best results with the Voltaren gel. They do have samples of this and you can get them from the orthopedic/spinal specialist.

I work with orthopedics and see a lot of trauma. Feel free to pm me and I will help if I can.

I see DJD/DDD a lot w/ work comp claims. Typically they sustain some sort of strain, and the DJD/DDD is diagnosed secondary to the strain/sprain.
Bed rest past the first 24-48 hours is not good for a strain/sprain. He needs to be active w/ some stretching and core strengthening exercises. Depending on how bad the strain is---oral steroids, muscle relaxants and pain meds should be prescribed. Typically it's recommended that you ice 20 min at a time for the first 24-36 hours. then alternate warm moist heat and ice.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE---have your brother be evaluated by a spine specialist or an orthopedist. DJD/DDD needs an MRI for definitive diagnosis.

I believe that studies have shown that most of us have some degree and form of DDD/DJD. Are discs and joints are the gray hairs of our bodies--it just happens as we age. Sometimes we have no problems. Sometimes we have issues when something happens (like a strain/sprain) and sometimes people have signs and symptoms without any known rhyme or reason. Some people have significant degenerative issues, others are just "normal" degneration.

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