can cervical degenrative disc diease come from an injury?

Question

3 yrs ago i worked in a psy hospital and was attacked by a patient the drs told me i had a sprain to my neck but in the mean while i been having pain and numbness in my neck from sitting to long and doing other daily activities recently i had an mri and was told that i had miminal degenerative disc diease within the cervical levels what should i do

Answer 1

What should you do? The only thing you really can do is go to a chiropractor or physical therapy, or both. Yes, disc degeneration CAN be caused by an injury like a cervical sprain. Your doctor should have recommended some sort of physical therapy in order to treat and minimize it. If nothing like that was recommended it probably isn't severe enough to handle that way.

Answer 2

I don't think the injury and what is happening now are connected. Degenerative Disc Disease is basically the discs are drying and less spongy,causing stiffness,pain,muscle spasms etc. In everyone, the discs dry as they get older,it's just that yours is drying faster than the norm. It sounds like you injury was a soft tissue injury,so to answer your question, no.

Answer 3

Yes, BUT. . . .
Depending on your age, a finding of minimal degeneration in the cervical spine would essentially be a "Normal" finding on an MRI.