Healing Herniated Disk
Your back is sore and in constant pain. You could feel the sharp pangs as it cuts across your spine. You could have a herniated disk.
Disks are gel-filled cushions aligned between spinal sections. Herniation is a protrusion of that disk material, which can irritate adjacent spine nerves, causing back pain. If the area served by the nerve extends to the leg, leg pain may result as well.
Often times, a herniated disk will occur in the lower back and radiate to other parts of the body such as your neck, buttocks, thigh and calf. Herniated disks usually affect one side of the body. For example, if the herniated disk starts in the neck, the burning, sharp pain could spread to your shoulder and arm.
A herniated disk may result in tingling or numbness in the part of your body served by that nerve. The affected nerve may also be responsible for muscle weakness where it might cause you to stumble or lose your ability to hold things.
You can have a herniated disk with no symptoms. It would have to show up on a spinal image for you to know you have it.
Disk herniation is generally caused by the wear and tear known as disk degeneration. As you age, the disks are less flexible and susceptible to tearing and rupturing with a minor twist or strain.
Many people have no idea of what caused their herniated disk. Sometimes using the back muscles instead of your leg and thigh muscles to lift heavy objects may result in a herniated disk. In other instances a traumatic event such as a fall or a blow to the back is a cause.
Other factors that may increase the risk of a herniated disk include your weight (excess body weight can put stress on disks in lower back), occupation (some physically demanding jobs put extra stress on your body, genetics (some people inherit their susceptibility to a herniated disk), smoking (less oxygen in your body contributes to the wear and tear on your disks), frequent driving (being seated all the time plus the jostling in the car may put pressure on your spine), and being sedentary (regular and consistent exercise may be able to keep a herniated disk at bay).
Some suggestions for deterring a herniated disk include exercising the trunk muscles which supports a strong spine, maintaining a good posture so you can reduce pressure on your spine and disks, maintaining a healthy weight so you don’t put too much pressure on your spine and disks, and quitting smoking to increase the oxygen and not the demands on your body.
To diagnose a herniated disk, your doctor might need a physical exam and a medical history. Just to be on the safe side, she might order some tests to rule out other conditions such as an X-ray, a CT scan, a MRI, and a myelogram where a dye is injected into the spinal fluid before a CT scan.
In addition, nerve conduction studies and electromyograms measure how the electrical impulses are moving along the nerve tissue.
Treatment for this condition includes medications like nonprescription pain medication such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve) and acetaminophen (Tylenol). You may be prescribed neuropathic drugs that affect nerve impulses to reduce pain such as gabapentin (Gralise, Horizant, Neurontin), pregabalin (Lyrica), duloxetine (Cymbalta, Drizalma Sprinkle) or venlafaxine (Effexor XR). Muscle relaxants might be prescribed for muscle spasms. Opioids may be prescribed for pain management such as codeine or oxycodone-acetaminophen (Percocet, Oxycet). If the pain is still not managed effectively then a corticosteroid may then be injected into your spine.
Your doctor may suggest physical therapy to help manage the pain. When all these measures still don’t affect your pain, surgery is another option. Your surgeon will remove just the protruding section of the disk. In rare instances, the entire disk may need to be removed. In these cases, the vertebrae might need to be fused with a bone graft.
To prepare for a bone fusion, which can take months, metal is placed in the spine. In certain cases, your doctor may suggest the implantation of an artificial disk.
There are things you can do at home to alleviate the pain of a herniated disk like applying heat or cold packs to take care of the inflammation associated with this condition. Be active the right way after resting in comfortable position by going for a short walk or some light yard work. Whatever work you choose to do, be mindful of your pain by making slow movements.
Just remember that most herniated disks heal on its own. Rest your lower back for a bit or where ever the pain is on your body and, with enough time, pretty soon you will be back to your routine in about five to six weeks.
