Dealing with a Herniated Disc

If you are worried that you may be suffering from a herniated disk, the chances are that it may not be that after all.  A report in the New England Journal of Medicine, indicated that herniated disks are only about 4 percent of cases of lower back pain.

Herniated discs occur most frequently in 30 to 50 year olds.  They are usually the result of wear and tear on the back, but what’s ironical is that between 20 and 40 percent people have herniated disks yet have no back pain.

That does make things tricky when trying to diagnose a sore back.  Your doctor may be able to see you have a herniated disk, but the real question is if the disk is causing the pain!

So why do some herniated disks cause back pain and others don’t?  In a nutshell, it depends if the herniated disk presses against a nerve or not.

Let’s take a quick review of your back to see how this happens, then see what can be done to reduce and eliminate herniated disk pain.

Your spine is made up of bones called vertebrae, and it helps to think of your spinal column in sections of these vertebrae.  The top seven vertebrae around the neck are in the cervical region.  The next twelve are in the thoracic region (middle and upper back).  The next five are in the lower back in the lumbar region.  There are a few more below the lumbar region but we’ll put them aside for this discussion.

Nature very wisely put cushions or disks between the vertebrae bones, and what’s great about these disks is that they absorb the pressure on your spine. 

The disks are tough on the outer rim and jelly like in the center.  But what happens over time is that the outer rim gets worn and thin, and in some cases, the inner center can push out.  If it pushes against a nerve then you have the pain from a herniated disk.

Diagnosing a herniated disk

Your doctor will look for signs associated with a herniated disc such as a lower back pain, pain in your leg or even numbness.  On some occasions, you might end up having an MRI which gices a clear picture of the spine, herniated diska dn even the roots of the nerves.  However, just because a disk is herniated does not mean that it causes pain.  MRIs are also very expensive, so doctors will be reluctant to do an MRI until they have tried other approaches.

How to treat a herniated disc

There are a number of steps you can take to treat a herniated disk:

1. Take things easy for a couple of days, avoiding any lifting
2. Apply an ice pack for 10-15 minutes 5-6 times per day
3. Take ibuprofen, but ask your doctor about the dosage because chances are that you will require a higher dosage than what’s on the label.
4. Ask your doctor what exercises you can do to help with your recovery.  You want to be cautiously active.
5. Ask to see a physiotherapist.  They have many exercises to strengthen your back, which is ultimately what you want to do.

The recovery process for a herniated disc

The good news is that the part of the herniated disks causing the pain will most likely shrink and stop pressing against the nerve.  Unfortunately, this can take a while. 

Faced with waiting or having surgery, it’s probably best to take the non-surgical approach first, and more than likely that’s what your doctor will recommend. It’s estimated that between 80 and 90 percent of herniated disk sufferers will resume normal activities with in one to two months.

When surgery is needed for a herniated disk

Your doctor will want you to try non-surgical methods for a few weeks, but if pain persists and no improvement occurs, surgery may be necessary.  Surgery usually involves cutting the piece of the disk that touches the nerve, and this process is called a diskectomy.  This may sound a bit scary but with a herniated disc surgery success is very common.  The success rate is between 80 to 90%.

Suffering from a herniated disk is painful, and because it’s our back and affects our motion it’s natural to be extra concerned about it.  But it’s not something that’s going to paralyze you and very seldom is it critical.  Fortunately most people recover from it and can resume normal activities.