Walking and other light activity may help. Try using a heating pad on a low or medium setting for 15 to 20 minutes every 2 or 3 hours. Try a warm shower in place of one session with the heating pad.
You can also buy single-use heat wraps that last up to 8 hours. You can also try an ice pack for 10 to 15 minutes every 2 to 3 hours.
Do the exercises that your doctor or physical therapist suggests. These will help keep your back muscles strong and prevent another injury.
Ask your doctor about medicine to treat your symptoms. Medicine won't cure a herniated disc, but it may help with pain and swelling. Can a herniated disc be prevented? To help keep your back healthy: Protect your back when you lift. For example, lift with your legs, not your back. Don't bend forward at the waist when you lift. Bend your knees, and squat. Use good posture. When you stand or walk, keep your shoulders back and down, your chin back, and your belly in.
This will help support your lower back. Get regular exercise. Stay at a healthy weight. This may reduce the load on your lower back. Don't smoke. Smoking increases the risk of a disc injury. Frequently Asked Questions Learning about herniated disc: What is a herniated disc? What causes it? What increases my risk of having a herniated disc? When should I see a doctor? Being diagnosed: How is a herniated disc diagnosed?
Getting treatment: How is it treated? What can I do to treat it at home? What kinds of pain medicine are used? When is surgery needed? Should I have surgery? What other treatments can I try? Ongoing concerns: How can I prevent a herniated disc?
What exercises can I do to prevent back problems? How do I lift properly to prevent a back injury? Health Tools Health Tools help you make wise health decisions or take action to improve your health. Decision Points focus on key medical care decisions that are important to many health problems. Actionsets are designed to help people take an active role in managing a health condition. Cause Wear and tear, also called disc degeneration , is the usual cause of a herniated disc.
This can also happen when you injure your back. Injury can occur from: A sudden heavy strain or increased pressure to the lower back. Sometimes a sudden twisting movement or even a sneeze will force some of the material out. Activities that are done over and over again that may stress the lower back, including poor lifting habits, prolonged exposure to vibration, and sports-related injuries.
Symptoms If the herniated disc isn't pressing on a nerve, you may have an ache in the low back or no symptoms at all. Only a few people who have herniated discs have severe or troublesome symptoms. When the disc does press on a nerve, symptoms may include: Pain that travels through the buttock and down a leg to the ankle or foot because of pressure on the sciatic nerve. Low back pain may accompany the leg pain. Tingling "pins-and-needles" sensation or numbness in one leg that can begin in the buttock or behind the knee and extend to the thigh, ankle, or foot.
Weakness in certain muscles in one or both legs. Pain in the front of the thigh. What Happens Due to age, injury, or both, the outer layer of a spinal disc may dry out and form tiny cracks. Sometimes this causes a: Bulging disc. Some of the thick gel in the disc may leak into the cracks. The disc may begin to bulge out from between the bones of the spine vertebrae.
Ruptured disc. The gel breaks through the capsule. Free fragment. Fragments of a ruptured disc may break completely free of the disc and lodge in the spinal canal. Getting help early on can lower your chance of having lasting problems, such as the following: Pain may come and go. Pain-free periods happen less and less. Long-lasting chronic and recurring pain can develop because of continued tissue irritation caused by the disc pressing on a nerve.
Chronic pain syndrome can result from having ongoing pain, causing depression, anxiety, and trouble coping with daily life. Symptoms caused by long-term nerve root compression include loss of agility, strength, or sensation in one or both legs and feet. What Increases Your Risk Risk factors are things that increase your risk of having a herniated disc. Risk factors that you cannot change Getting older.
Being male. Having a history of back injury, previous herniated disc, or back surgery. Risk factors that you can change Your job or other activities. These may include: Long periods of sitting. Lifting or pulling heavy objects. Frequent bending or twisting of the back. Alternate painkillers such as ibuprofen and paracetamol. Paracetamol on its own is not recommended for back pain. Take them regularly up to the recommended daily amount rather than just when the pain is particularly bad.
This will help you to keep moving. Speak to a pharmacist if you're not sure. Stronger painkillers containing codeine may help for pain that's just started. But these types of painkillers can cause addiction and should only be used for a few days.
Your GP will usually be able to tell if you have a slipped disc from your symptoms. You may also have a physical examination. For example, sneezing, awkward bending, or heavy lifting in an awkward position may cause some extra pressure on the disc. In people with a weakness in a disc, this may be sufficient to cause a prolapse. Factors that may increase the risk of developing a prolapsed disc include:. The pain is often severe and usually comes on suddenly.
The pain is usually eased by lying still and is often made worse if you move your back, cough or sneeze. Nerve root pain is pain that occurs because a nerve coming from the spinal cord is pressed on trapped by a 'slipped' prolapsed disc, or is irritated by the inflammation caused by the prolapsed disc. Although the problem is in the back, you feel pain anywhere along the course of the nerve in addition to back pain.
Therefore, you may feel pain below your knee as far as your calf or foot. Nerve root pain can range from mild to severe but it is often worse than the back pain. People often describe nerve root pain as a burning pain. With a prolapsed disc, the sciatic nerve is the most commonly affected nerve. The term sciatica means nerve root pain of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is a large nerve that is made up from several smaller nerves that come out from the spinal cord in the lower back.
It travels deep inside the buttock and down the back of the leg. There is a sciatic nerve for each leg. The irritation or pressure on the nerve next to the spine may also cause pins and needles, numbness or weakness in part of a buttock, leg or foot.
The exact site and type of symptoms depend on which nerve is affected. Cauda equina syndrome is a particularly serious type of nerve root problem that can be caused by a prolapsed disc.
This is a rare disorder where the nerves at the very bottom of the spinal cord are pressed on. This syndrome can cause low back pain plus:. Cauda equina syndrome needs urgent treatment to stop the nerves to the bladder and bowel from becoming permanently damaged. See a doctor immediately if you develop these symptoms. To read more about this condition, see the separate leaflet called Cauda Equina Syndrome.
Research studies where routine back scans have been done on a large number of people have shown that some people have a prolapsed disc without any symptoms.
It is thought that symptoms mainly occur if the prolapse puts pressure on or irritates a nerve. This does not happen in all cases.
Some prolapses may be small, or occur away from the nerves and cause minor or no symptoms. In most cases, the symptoms tend to improve over a few weeks. Research studies of repeated magnetic resonance imaging MRI scans have shown that the bulging prolapsed portion of the disc tends to shrink regress over time in most cases.
The symptoms then tend to ease and, in most cases, go away completely. About 50 out of every people improve within 10 days, and 75 out of a after four weeks. In only about 2 out of every people with a 'slipped' prolapsed disc is the pain still bad enough after 12 weeks that they end up having to have surgery see below.
Your doctor will normally be able to diagnose a 'slipped' prolapsed disc from the symptoms and by examining you. It is the most common cause of sudden back pain with nerve root symptoms. In most cases, no tests are needed, as the symptoms often settle within a few weeks. Tests such as X-rays or scans may be advised if symptoms persist. In particular, an MRI scan can show the site and size of a prolapsed disc. This information is needed if treatment with surgery is being considered.
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