Body Blogg: Herniated Discs

Herniated discs are often referred to as slipped discs. This isn’t entirely accurate. The disc doesn’t slip out of alignment with the spine, like a block in a Jenga tower, the spine is too stable. Briefly, there are three major ligaments running down the length of the spine which prohibit forward movement of the disc, added to this, there are various tendons, ligaments and muscles either side of the spine which stop it from slipping to the side either.

I was taught that the discs of the spine are like rolled up belts, made of cartilage. Each disc has a soft core called the nucleus.

Now cartilage, or the belt in our example, is tough stuff, but doesn’t handle compression very well. When compressed, cartilage tends to crack. So let’s place a large brick on the front of the belt. The force of the brick pushes down on the belt and forces the soft middle against the back of the belt. As this is repeated over many years, due to bad posture or bending, cracks start to appear in the belt, until finally the belt gives way and the middle pushes out. This is a herniated disc.

The body reacts to a herniation by causing inflammation, and inflammation causes pain and stiffness. The herniation itself can press up against nerves which pass in the vicinity of the herniation. This causes pain, numbness or tingling sensations down the path of the nerve. The most common location for a disc herniation is the L5/S1 region, at the base of the spine. The nerve emerging from the L5/S1 level of the spine is one of five roots contributing to the sciatic nerve, and compression of this nerve causes sciatica.

Symptoms:

As mentioned, symptoms include pain and inflammation around the area where the herniation occurred. You will most likely experience sciatica, or pain down the back of the leg. The sciatic pain may increase when you cough, sneeze or pass a stool. These symptoms may come on quickly, due to an injury, or they may come on slowly over time.

Treatment:

I will always treat what I find. The most common course of treatment would be to reduce the inflammation around the herniated disc. This includes treating those muscles which have become tense and spasmodic. I treat the disc directly by gently moving the spine in a way which widens the gap through which the nerves pass, reducing the pressure on the nerve and reducing the sciatic pain.

Treatment can take time, but it is worth it. You can manage herniated disc symptoms.