Article written by Dr. Michelle Strydom MD
Degenerative disc disease and slipped discs most commonly affect the lower back because this is where the mechanical pressure is the greatest. Typically, the person is seized with back pain by merely coughing or during heavy straining such as lifting something and is not able to straighten up. The person usually stands slightly bent to one side and all back movements are severely limited. There is often tenderness in the midline of the lower back. Degenerative disc disease that is not caused by trauma can be genetically inherited. Therefore I recommend that you first read through the chapter on page 153 which has important background teaching on genetically inherited diseases.
In degenerative disc disease, the centre of the disc gradually degenerates which means that it softens and weakens. The result is that it is no longer able to sustain the pressure in the back as it was originally designed to. The pressure on the weakened central part of the disc can cause it to herniate (rupture) through the back of the spine (in between the bones) – this is what is referred to as a slipped disc. The herniated disc becomes flatter and as a result the space between the vertebrae narrows. You have nerves that lie in between the vertebrae in your spine. These nerves can be squashed or pinched by the herniated disc as well as by the narrowed space between the bones. This causes severe pain that radiates to the area of the body that is supplied by the squashed nerve. For example, sciatica is when the sciatic nerve is squashed resulting in pain that shoots across the buttock and down the leg. The herniated disc also causes swelling that increases the pressure on the nerve in that area, thus further contributing to the pain. The pain is also caused by the herniated disc pressing on the ligaments that run down the back of the spine (posterior longitudinal ligament).
When a nerve is squashed, it may not be able to function properly. The function of nerves in the spine is to either electrically stimulate specific muscles to contract in order to produce movement or to carry sensory information to your brain (which enables you to feel). Thus when a nerve is squashed, the muscle it supplies will not be able to contract properly (it is weakened) or you will get pins and needles or not be able to feel at all in the area of the body that the nerve supplies. For example if the nerve that runs between the L4 and L5 vertebra is squashed, it causes weakness of the big toe so that you can’t lift it up, weakness of the knee (making it difficult to bend the knee) and loss of sensation (feeling) on the outer side of the leg and the back of the foot.
Degenerative disc disease and the associated back problems came out of drug addictions.
Henry Wright has dealt with many cases of degenerative disc disease in his ministry over the past 20 years. In taking the histories of these people he noticed that degenerative disc disease and the associated back problems came out of drug addictions or were inherited from a family tree where someone was a drug or alcohol addict or who used to sell drugs or alcohol. This is an observation which I am not able to explain from a medical perspective at this point. The Bible says that there are consequences (a woe or a curse) for adversely influencing somebody else’s welfare by getting them drunk. It isn’t a good idea to be a bar owner.
Habakkuk 2 v 15-16: “Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink, who pours out your bottle to them and adds to it your poisonous and blighting wrath and also makes them drunk, that you may look on their stripped condition and pour out foul shame [on their glory]! You [yourself] will be f illed with shame and contempt instead of glory…The cup [of wrath] in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you [O destroyer], and foul shame shall be upon your own glory!”
Henry Wright has had some success in seeing people healed from degenerative disc disease by dealing with the addictions behind it – either personal or inherited. If you suffer from degenerative disc disease and also have an addiction to either prescription or illegal drugs or alcohol (or any other addiction), it is essential for you to read through the chapter on addictions on page 216. If you have degenerative disc disease as a result of addictions or somebody selling drugs or alcohol in your family tree, you need to deal with it as I explained in the chapter on genetically inherited diseases. This would involve repenting for the sins of your forefathers and asking for the forgiveness for the sin of a low self-esteem (Behind addictions is a low self-esteem, insecurity and a need to be loved) or adversely contributing to somebody else’s welfare by selling alcohol or drugs.
Behind the degeneration of spondylolysis is a toxic thought pattern of self-hatred.
Behind the degeneration of spondylolysis is a toxic thought pattern of self-hatred.
A prolapsed disc which later becomes degenerated can also be caused by trauma. In this case please see page 396 where I have written about backache as a result of trauma.
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