Herniated Disc
Have you been diagnosed with a herniated disc? Do you suffer from neck or back pain? We understand how debilitating it can be. But you don’t have to live in pain, and you can prevent a herniated disc from recurring. We believe one of the first steps in finding pain relief is understanding your pain, how your spine works, and what’s causing the pain in the first place.
Spinal Anatomy
Before we get into the details of a herniated disc, it would be helpful for you to understand a bit about spinal anatomy. Your spine, also known as the vertebral column or backbone, is made up of 33 small stacked bones called vertebrae, with intervertebral discs forming a cushion between them. Each disc has a spongy, gel-like center called the nucleus pulposis, and is surrounded by a flexible outer right called the annulus. The spinal discs are under constant pressure from the vertebrae.
The spinal column protects your spinal cord and nerves that along with your brain play an integral part in your nervous system.
What Is a Herniated Disc?
A herniated disc is when the pressure from the vertebrae causes the annulus to tear, letting some of the nucleus push through the tear. This can result in the disc material pressing on the nerves in your spine. Your spine has 4 regions:
- Cervical Spine (Your neck)
- Thoracic Spine (Upper Back)
- Lumbar Spine (Lower Back)\
- Sacral Region (Bottom of the spine/back of the pelvis)
The most common disc herniation is a lumbar herniated disc, but you can also suffer a cervical herniated disc. A thoracic herniated disc is less common.
Some people refer to a disc herniation as a slipped disc or bulging disc. Others spell the word disc as disk. Whatever you call it and however you spell it, it’s the same thing.
Herniated Disc Symptoms
Your herniated disc symptoms will vary based on the location of the disc herniation. We can tell you that a herniated disc is one of the most common causes of lower back pain and neck pain.
Symptoms of Herniated Disc in Lower Back
Depending on the severity of the disc herniation, you may have one or all of the following symptoms:
- Back pain
- Tingling or numbness in your legs or feet
- Shooting pain down your leg (sciatica)
- Muscle weakness
Symptoms of Herniated Disc in Neck
Depending on the severity of the disc herniation, you may have one or all of the following symptoms:
- Pain between your shoulder blades
- Pain that travels from your shoulder down into your arm and even into your hand or fingers
- Muscle weakness
- Pain in back and/or sides of your neck
- Pain increases when you turn your neck
- Pain that shoots down your arm when you cough or sneeze Numbness or tingling in your arms
Common Causes of a Herniated Disc
Some people never know what caused their herniated disc. In this case, it may be due to the normal wear and tear on your spine that comes with age. It’s called disc degeneration, and means your spine becomes less flexible and prone to injury, even from something as simple as twisting.
Other contributing causes and risk factors may include:
- Being overweight
- Genetics
- Smoking
- Living a sedentary lifestyle
- Repetitive motions such as lifting or twisting (at work or in sports)
- Sudden strain from improper lifting or twisting (at work or in sports)
As you can see, other than aging and genetics, you can control many of the risk factors that can lead to a herniated disc.
Herniated Disc FAQs
Q: Can a herniated disc heal on its own?
A: Yes. Some people never realize they have a herniated disc, and it heals on its own. But if a herniated disc is causing you pain, you need to seek treatment.
Q: Who gets herniated discs?
A: About 2% of people suffer a disc herniation each year. A disc herniation is most common in people between the ages of 30 and 50. Men are twice as likely to have a herniated disc as women.
Q: How do you fix a herniated disc?
A: Immediately after the injury, if the pain is severe, you may want to rest for one or two days and take OTC anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen. But too much bed rest can cause stiffness. If you have severe pain, numbness and tingling, the pain gets worse, or it interferes with your daily life, you should seek treatment.
How Cima Health Can Help
Cima Health provides restorative, lifelong solutions that target the root cause of your herniated disc. Your care will start out with a comprehensive evaluation to assess your pain. We will also ask questions about your work and home life, lifestyle, and habits before making recommendations for an integrative plan of care. Together, we come up with non-invasive and alternative treatments that can help you achieve whole-body wellness and live pain-free for life.
Treating and preventing a herniated disc involves several treatment modalities, all of which you can receive in one location. They include:
- Chiropractic Care
- Cortisone Injections
- Physical Therapy
- Massage Therapy
- Physical Fitness
Let’s take a look at how each of these areas works together to provide you with natural pain relief and inspires you to make lifestyle changes to prevent back pain in the future.
Chiropractic Care
More and more people choose to see a chiropractor for herniated disc pain. It’s an alternative to surgery that works for many people. Chiropractic care may provide nearly immediate back and neck pain relief, depending on the location of your herniated disc. Spinal adjustments, manual therapy, dry needling, and Class IV laser therapy can all help relieve your pain. We’ll also examine your posture both sitting and standing, and make recommendations for things you can change that will help relieve your pain.
Our Palm Beach Gardens chiropractors are all highly trained herniated disc specialists and include:
Working with a Herniated Disc
Working with a herniated disc can be quite painful, but not impossible, depending on your occupation. Regular chiropractic adjustments can help tremendously. But if your job requires you to sit all day, bend a lot, or lift heavy boxes, you may need work accommodations until you heal and you return to full duty.
Your chiropractor can recommend work restrictions to your employer if needed, such as a change in duties, being allowed to stand instead of sit, restrictions on lifting, etc. This is especially true if you are seeing the chiropractor as part of a workers’ compensation claim. Your doctor will discuss this with you as necessary.
Cortisone Injections
Our medical care team offers cortisone injections to help relieve the pain associated with a herniated disc. An epidural steroid injection at the level of the disc herniation reduces the inflammation and reduces the pressure on the spinal nerves. For a patient with a new disc herniation, the pain relief can help resolve your pain permanently, if you respond well to a series of injections. For patients with chronic pain or recurrent herniations, pain relief may last 3-6 months.
Physical Therapy (PT)
Physical therapy, when combined with other treatments can also help with a herniated disc. Your physical therapist will work with you to design a specific treatment program that will speed your recovery, including stretching exercises and treatments that you can do at home. PT can help you resume your normal lifestyle and activities. The time it takes to heal a herniated disc varies, but you may see improvement in 2 to 8 weeks or less, when you work with Cima Health and the various programs we design for you.
We can also help you understand how to avoid or modify the activities that caused the disc herniation so you can prevent a recurrence. This can include showing you how to properly lift, as well as proper form in various athletic endeavors. With improved form, flexibility, and strength, you’ll be well on your way to pain-free living.
If you had herniated disc surgery, we can also work with you and your surgeon to develop a recovery program that promotes safe healing and helps you regain range of motion faster than you could do on your own.
Massage Therapy
Massage therapy is another modality we offer that can target pain from a herniated disc. Massage helps loosen tight muscles and promote relaxation. While massage can’t heal your disc herniation, it can promote recovery. Massage therapy can be an integral part of your care, especially if you have a lumbar disc herniation.
Physical Fitness
The last component of healing from a herniated disc and preventing another is regular exercise to strengthen your trunk. You may think you’re physically fit already, but if you’re experiencing a herniated disc, your core muscles may not be as strong as they need to be. If you’re even slightly overweight, those excess pounds can cause strain on your spine.
Our physical fitness team of personal trainers can help develop a safe and gentle exercise routine while you heal, and slowly work up to strengthening exercises and a weight loss routine. We’ll help you use proper form to avoid a herniated disc, and help you feel better for life.
The entire team at Cima Health works together to provide you with restorative, lifelong solutions.
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Book an Appointment
A herniated disc that’s causing neck or back pain can make it hard to enjoy life, let alone play with your kids or play a round of golf. If you’re looking for a non-invasive treatment for a herniated disc, book an appointment today. One of our chiropractors will do a comprehensive examination to get to the root cause of your pain and develop an integrative plan of care to relieve your pain and inspire you to achieve whole-body wellness.
