Natural Treatments For Degenerative Disc Disease
Degenerative disc disease, or DDD, is pain stemming from a degenerated disc in the spine. With continued disc degeneration, the inflammatory proteins within the disc will burn out, and the disc will have a hard time moving on the micro-level, which can cause intense pain.
Surgical treatment is an option in cases of severe, debilitating lumbar degenerative disc disease, and is usually only recommended after at least 6 months of nonsurgical treatment. Most cases of degenerative disc disease can be managed using nonsurgical methods, and do not require surgery for effective pain relief.
ICD-10 code M51. 36 for Other intervertebral disc degeneration, lumbar region is a medical classification as listed by WHO under the range - Dorsopathies .
The “disease” is nothing more than the gradual deterioration and thinning of the shock-absorbing intervertebral discs in the spine. When it happens at multiple discs or levels throughout the spine, this is known as multilevel degenerative disc disease.
The phrase "degenerative changes" in the spine refers to osteoarthritis of the spine. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. Doctors may also refer to it as degenerative arthritis or degenerative joint disease. Osteoarthritis in the spine most commonly occurs in the neck and lower back.
Multilevel degenerative spondylosis means that multiple spinal levels/vertebrae are experiencing degenerative changes, and this can be a more severe form of spondylosis because of the extent of spinal degeneration and the severity of back, neck, and/or radicular pain it can cause.
When multiple segments, or levels of the spine are involved, the condition is termed multilevel spondylosis. Because it affects several vertebrae, multilevel spondylosis can be more severe than degeneration that affects only one.
Treatment may include occupational therapy, physical therapy, or both, special exercises, medications, losing weight, and surgery. Medical options include injecting the joints next to the damaged disc with steroids and a local anesthetic. These are called facet joint injections. They can provide effective pain relief.
Degenerative disc disease or DDD can be the cause of many different symptoms resulting in localized pain or pain that radiates down the leg. Degenerative joint disease or DJD is very different, but can have overlapping symptoms with DDD.
However, degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis are different conditions and can occur separately: one can have degenerative discs without any facet osteoarthritis; or one can have facet osteoarthritis without degenerative discs.
Though it is not specifically mentioned, “thoracolumbar” likely only includes T12-L1, and “lumbosacral” probably only refers to the L5-S1 interspace. There is a strange rule for cervical disc disorders indicating that you should code to the most superior level of the disorder.
Myelopathy means that there is some sort of neurologic deficit to the spinal cord, whereas radiculopathy means that there is a deficit to nerve roots. Don’t code radiculitis (M54.1-) separately if you use thefourth character of “1” with radiculopathy for the disc disorders (M50.1- or M51.1-). It is already included in the code.
It is already included in the code. Likewise, don’t code sciatica (M54.3-) if you code for lumbar disc with radiculopathy. It would be redundant. On a side note, lumbar radiculopathy (M54.16) might be used if pain is not yet known to be due a disc, but it radiates from the lumbar spine.