Question
My mother, 81 yrs old, has degenerative disk disease. Recently she had an MRI and CT scan and has been diagnosed with herniated disks. She spent 2 days in the hospital on Morphine and is home now. The Physical therapist sent to her told her that, basically, she may do anything that does not hurt. We would like to avoid any surgery for her if possible so my question:
Is there any therapy, or life style changes, that you would recommend for this condition to avoid surgery?

Thank you,

Carol

Answer
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Dear Carol,

Your question is difficult to answer based on the information provided, and I will try to explain why.
Elderly patients commonly suffer from many different problems in their back, all of which cause pain in the back. Some of them also cause problems in the legs, such as pain and numbness or inability to walk properly.
On the other hand, every patient over the age of 80, will have an abnormal CT and MRI tests, since the normal process of ageing causes many changes to the spine.
A "herniated disc" is usually found in patients under 60 years of age. 81 year old patients usually will have a multitude of other changes in their backs. In any case, even if a herniated disc is found on the tests, it still remains to be proven that the disc pathology is also the pain generator.

To make a diagnosis, we rely on three things:

1.   Anamnesis  (meaning what we hear from the patient)
2.   Physical examination
3.   Various studies (such as CT and MRI)  

After completing these three things we make a diagnosis on which therapeutic decisions are based.

If you would like a more specific answer, please provide more detail as to your mother's problem: location of the pain, any other complaints, the complete radiological report, etc.

I will gladly answer a follow-up question after these details are provided.

I hope your mother gets better,

Dr. N. Rahamimov, M.D.