Chronic in nature, these conditions develop over time and can affect everyone from competitive athletes to more sedentary office workers.
Though they most often develop in the 5th decade of life, arthritis, and degenerative disc disease can also start in the teenage years and affect men and women equally. A direct result of aberrant pressure, bone will adapt to the loads it is placed under, which is not always advantageous to movement.
If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time to become stronger and resist excess pressure, resulting in degenerative joint disease (DJD) or degenerative disc disease (Wolff’s Law). Symptoms of arthritis or joint disease include joint stiffness in the morning and deep, localized pain. DJD of the spine can affect the joints, the discs, and the nerves.
