How do you feel about our website?
Great   Indifferent

Degenerative Disc Disease Specialist

Pain Relief of Dayton Rick Buenaventura, MD Our Services Degenerative Disc Disease

Pain Relief of Dayton

Rick Buenaventura, MD

Pain Management located in Centerville, OH

Degenerative disc disease can cause intense pain and often occurs in healthy and active men and women in their 30s and 40s. As a board-certified interventional pain management specialist at Pain Relief of Dayton in Centerville, Ohio, Rick Buenaventura, MD, has extensive experience diagnosing and managing chronic pain conditions such as degenerative disc disease. If you’re living with chronic pain, you can find effective relief. Call Pain Relief of Dayton or schedule an appointment online today.

Degenerative Disc Disease Q&A

What is degenerative disc disease?

When you have degenerative disc disease, it means you have age-related deterioration in the discs between your vertebrae.

Your vertebrae are the bones that make up your spine. Each one has a rubbery disc to cushion it and function as a shock absorber. As you grow older, your intervertebral discs start to degenerate, which can cause pain.

Certain things can increase your chances of having degenerative disc disease, such as:

  • Smoking
  • Being overweight or obese
  • Engaging in strenuous physical labor


You also have higher risks of developing degenerative disc disease if you sustain an injury, like a fall.

What are the symptoms of degenerative disc disease?

Degenerative disc disease doesn’t always cause symptoms. However, in other cases you can have pain that’s so severe it’s debilitating. Most of the time, the pain associated with degenerative disc disease comes and goes at first, with the discomfort ranging from mild to disabling.

As your degenerative disc disease progresses, it’s common to develop additional symptoms in other areas of your body, including your neck; lower back, buttocks, and thighs; or hands and arms.

Common symptoms of degenerative disc disease include:

  • Weakness and radiating pain
  • Numbness and tingling
  • Muscle spasms in your lower back or neck


Degenerative disc disease symptoms are usually worse when you’re sitting, lifting, bending, or twisting. It’s also common for them to improve if you change position, lay down, or take a walk.

How is degenerative disc disease diagnosed and treated?

At Pain Relief of Dayton, Dr. Buenaventura can usually diagnose degenerative disc disease by getting additional details on your symptoms and pain, reviewing your personal history, and performing a comprehensive physical exam with digital imaging.

Dr. Buenaventura offers innovative and cutting-edge interventional pain management treatments for degenerative disc disease. Depending on the extent of your condition and symptoms, he might recommend a combination of therapies that include:

  • Anti-inflammatory medications and pain relievers
  • Acupuncture
  • Chiropractic adjustments and massage therapy
  • Diagnostic and therapeutic injections, like nerve blocks
  • Regenerative medicine


Dr. Buenaventura also offers spinal cord stimulation (SCS), a neuromodulation technique that changes your pain signals before they reach your brain.

To find relief if you have degenerative disc disease, call Pain Relief of Dayton or schedule an appointment online today.

What we offer

Services