Degenerative disc disease can manifest through a range of symptoms, though most often it causes pain in the back and neck and potentially radiating to other areas (i.e., radiculopathy) like the shoulders, arms, hands, hips, buttocks, or legs. It may worsen with certain movements and improve with position changes. Other symptoms include numbness and tingling in the extremities, muscle weakness from nerve compression, a sensation of spinal instability or the back/neck "giving out," painful muscle spasms, and in severe cases, the development of bone spurs that can compress the spinal cord or nerves, leading to additional issues like difficulty walking or loss of bladder/bowel control; however, symptom severity can vary widely among individuals.