The symptoms of degenerative disc disease/isolated disc resorption can feel like a “muscle spasm” but are not generated by the muscles.
The difference between degenerative disc disease (DDD) and isolated disc resorption (IDR) is that in DDD, the disc is torn and there is some loss of shock absorption but the main pain is generated from the disc wall (annulus). In IDR, not only is there disc wall pain but there is also bone pain from the fractures of the endplate. This pain is a more intense dull pain with add delayed onset pain.
I call this pay-for-it-later pain as with any loading activity, there is the pain at time of activity onset and then delayed pain (4-8 hours later) which is a deep, dull throbbing ache. This is due to the inflammatory cascade which takes between 4-8 hours for full onset of this cascade.
Dr. Corenman
Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.