HERNIATED DISCS

A herniated disc is a condition in which the outer rim of the disc becomes torn or damaged, and the fluid from the center of the disc protrudes through the tear. When this occurs, the fluid can irritate the nearby nerves causing pain and even weakness. Some herniated discs cause no pain. These occur as discs take either take on abnormal weight bearing and wear down over time. It is similar to a tire that starts to wear down before eventually the tire will blow.

What Symptoms Can It Produce

  • Pain in the neck or lower back that can often radiate outward. Herniated discs in the neck can cause radiating pain into the arms and hands, while a herniated disc in the lower back can cause radiating symptoms into the legs / feet.
  • If severe enough, it can even cause numbness, weakness, or a burning/tingling sensation.
  • Can range from not symptomatic to severely painful.
  • May make movement or certain positions very difficult.
  • Muscles will develop severe spasms around the disc involved to protect it.

What to Do

  • If severe, find a position of comfort and call your Chiropractor.
  • Try to perform small, pain free range of motion to keep mobility in the spine.
  • Often muscles spasm, and therapy can be used to lessen the spasms and improve the recovery time.  
  • Discs take wear and tear from abnormal spinal mechanics, visiting a Chiropractor will restore proper biomechanics and function to the spine to relieve pressure on the discs.
  • Herniated discs are a lot like tires of a car. The wheels on your car need to be in alignment to allow the car to accumulate as many miles as possible.  If the wheels are out of alignment, the tires wear out much much faster, similar to how a spinal disc can wear out faster with abnormal biomechanics of a spinal segment.
  • Goal number 1 is to find out which disc is herniated, and where the herniation took place.  Then you can apply treatment to relieve the symptoms as quick as possible.
  • Find a comfortable position, non weight-bearing positions are best because it decreases pressure on the disc.  

 

  • Use heat to control muscles spasms.
  • Don’t completely immobilize, perform slight ROM (Pain Free!) movements to keep motion in the joints.
  • Avoid heavy lifting and exercise.
  • If you have any bowel or bladder control loss, or issues with muscle control or loss of reflexes – get to the emergency room immediately!!
  • Herniated disc symptoms do ease up over time in most cases, but it does not mean that the disc is healing. So it’s critical to have it assessed.
  • Surgery may be required if the injury is severe. 
  • The surgery is known as a microdisectomy. Turing this procedure, a small part of the protruding disc material under the nerve root is taken out.
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