Disc Degeneration

Disc degeneration may progress silently because much of the annulus fibrosus has no nerve supply. A back injury during a light movement is framed as the point where a long-term structural threshold is crossed, not as damage from that movement alone. An outer wall breach or nerve-root contact can cause stabbing pain, radiating pain, and numbness. Migrating disc material can produce a dull intermittent ache when it reaches the outer third of the annulus.