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Physical therapy and massage stayed at first-line treatment for degenerative joint disease. Along with over the counter medications labeled as non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and NSAIDS for short. And NSAIDS include Motrin, Aleve, ibuprofen, Naprosyn, and the such. So provisional cream, such as Aspercreme and diclofenac cream can also be quite helpful in helping with degenerative diseases of the lower back. As degenerative joint disease symptoms increase, then more strong medications may be of use in patients who have inflammatory arthritic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, oral steroids and disease modifying medications, such as Plaquinel and methotrexate can be quite helpful. Typically surgery is only necessary when frequency of symptoms is higher and their quality of life more poor than patients who’ve had surgery. Since surgery does not cure degenerative joint disease it is very important to balance the risk of surgery with the benefits to the patient. And hence each specific case has to be discussed with surgeon before proceeding. I suggest patients get second opinions, especially if they’re being offered more aggressive spinal surgeries to assure that they have discussed all of the alternatives to surgery before proceeding with surgery.
