If you have never experienced a herniated disc you may not know exactly what it is. There are a number of conditions that can happen to the discs in your back and sometimes their names seem to be interchangeable. You have bulging discs, ruptured discs and herniated discs. All of them are similar and yet slightly different.
The word “herniated” means that a part of the outer layer of your disc has weakened and the inside substance has leaked out. As the inner substance comes out, it comes into contact with spinal nerves and irritates the nerves and can cause them to swell. As well, if an outer piece of the disc has broken off due to the herniation, it could be floating down the spinal canal.
Causes of a herniated disc
A herniated disc can happen gradually due to age or immediately due to an injury. More often than not a herniated disc happens gradually. First the outer layer or wall of your disc wears down as you age. It may get brittle, weak and dried up. After a while the disc may start to bulge out a little bit and become a bulging disc. Eventually if it continues to weaken and there is enough pressure on the weakened spot, that bulging will turn into a rupture or herniated disc. This means that the outer wall has become so weak that it has broken open and now the inside gel-like center of the disc is oozing out.
Get a diagnosis
When you have a herniated disc you could experience pain in your lower back and legs or sometimes in your neck. However, pain like this can be attributed to a variety of conditions and so it is important that you go to your doctor to get a diagnosis so that you can pursue the right kind of treatment.
Your doctor will ask you for detailed information regarding your symptoms, whether or not you sustained an injury and what steps you have taken to deal with your pain. Your doctor will likely schedule you for medical imaging and other medical tests to confirm that you are dealing with a herniated disc.
Once a diagnosis of a herniated disc has been made, your doctor can then suggest what you can do to deal with your herniated disc. No one likes prolonged pain so make sure that you go to your doctor right away!
Treatments
Most likely your doctor would start off your treatment at the minor end of the scale. Probably over the counter pain relievers or anti-inflammatory medications and then some simple exercises. One way to help you with your herniated disc pain would be to stretch out the affected area by walking or simple stretching exercises. If you find it difficult to do any exercises because of the pain, keep in mind that the more you do them the easier and less painful it will become. Of course only do this under the guidance of your doctor.
Some things you should be aware of that could aggravate your pain from your herniated disc are sitting in one position too long and even sneezing or coughing! Of course the last two aren’t exactly things you can control!
A major treatment for a herniated disc would be surgery and that would generally only be recommended if all other treatments had failed.
This article is considered general information only; please consult a medical professional concerning your specific condition.
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