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.
722.51 is the correct diagnosis code for thoracic degenerative disc disease. 722.52 is the accurate diagnosis code for DDD of the lumbar or lumbosacral intervertebral disc.
In some cases, disc generation is contained to one overstressed disc, but more often, disc degeneration occurs at multiple levels throughout the spine. When this happens, it's aptly called “Multi-Level Degenerative Disc Disease.” Today, we take a closer look at the condition and how it is treated.
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.
How is degenerative disc disease diagnosed? A diagnosis is based on a medical history and a physical examination, as well as the symptoms and the circumstances where the pain started. Magnetic resonance imaging can show damage to discs, but it alone cannot confirm degenerative disc disease.
ICD-10-CM Code for Other intervertebral disc degeneration, lumbar region M51. 36.
Degeneration occurs because of age-related wear-and-tear on a spinal disc, and may be accelerated by injury, health and lifestyle factors, and possibly by genetic predisposition to joint pain or musculoskeletal disorders. Degenerative disc disease rarely starts from a major trauma such as a car accident.
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.
Multi-Level Herniated Discs An acute injury (caused by a car crash, for example) can cause herniation of several discs at once. Additionally, when an area of the spine is weakened as the result of degenerative conditions like arthritis, all the discs in the area are susceptible to herniation.
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.
Discs often degenerate with age causing vertebrae to sit closer together. This is part of the reason we shrink with age. Degenerative discs can lead to pain via multiple pathways. Spinal stenosis is another condition of the spine where the central canal diameter is reduced much like a pipe that becomes clogged.
The L4-L5 disc is at a high risk of degeneration. This risk may be due to increased loads at the L4-L5 motion segment and decreased movement in the segments below this level. A change in disc height due to degeneration may affect the lordosis of the lumbar spine.
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.
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.
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.
M50.2- and M51.2- are the subcategories for “other disc displacement,” and this phrase has led to some confusion. “Displacement” is a very general term that does not distinguish between disc bulges or prolapses. However, it is notable that it does not mention nervous system involvement.
In 2017, sixth characters were added to some of the cervical codes to provide even more anatomic specificity. However, it should be noted that laterality is not identified by the codes even though radiculopathy is usually a unilateral condition. Diagnostic Testing.
Since degeneration involves a change in the appearance of the bone around the disc, it can often be visualized on an X-ray. As such, an X-ray report would commonly be found in the documentation when this diagnosis is used.