Pain Management and Pain Relief Information

If you are having severe back pain with a diagnosis of a bad herniated disc, then we can discuss treatment options. What exactly is a herniated disc? Sometimes called a slipped disc, bulging disc, or ruptured disc, it basically is the same thing. Spinal disc are the cushions between the vertebrae that make up your backbone. The purpose of the disc, are to provide the flexibility of your back and also act as shock absorbers when you walk. A ruptured or herniated disc is when part of the jelly like center pushes through the outer wall of the disc and puts pressure on your nerves causing your back pain.

Symptoms of a problem are sharp pains starting in your buttocks area going down your leg, numbness in one leg, a sharp burning pain in the lower back, or weakness in one or both legs. But keep you must realize that you can have a combination of these or no pain at all.

Common causes of herniated disc can be excess weight, improper lifting, and a decrease of water in your body due to aging. All of these causes can be attributed to muscle imbalance. Muscle imbalance is when our body is put into unusual positions leading to spinal misalignment and a resulting disc problem.

Treatment options for a herniated disc.

• Therapy for Herniated Disc- therapy can include special exercises to help relieve tension along spinal nerve canal. Sometimes even mild stretching can be used to soothe pressure on the disc.

• To help calm down the bulging disc using ice and heat therapy- whenever a disc is bulging or swollen, ice may be subscribed to ease the swelling and help with pain reduction. After the disc has returned to a normal state, then heat therapy may take place to stimulate blood flow to help the healing process.

• Chiropractic manipulation along with massage- sometimes a herniated disc can be helped by visiting a chiropractor for spinal manipulation. By placing your spine back in normal posture, the pressure can be relieved around the bad area of the ruptured disc. The chiropractor might even suggest certain types of massage to return blood flow to the affected area.

• Spinal decompression- to decompress your spine you might be recommended to use inversion therapy. It works because you are relieving pressure from your vertebrae and relaxing your herniated disc. It actually gives the disc room to work again and can sometimes be restored to normal with several treatments. Once the pressure is relieved from the herniated disc it starts to be replenished again with fluid, and results are loss of pain because the nerves are not being touched by the bad disc. An inversion table can be used at home on a regular basis restoring your spinal structure back to normal again. A study was done by Newcastle University and they found that using inversion therapy that over 70% of the people were healed and canceled their back surgeries.

• Oral rub on creams containing steroids- sometimes special orally applied creams that can be rubbed into the affected area can help promote healing.

• Surgery maybe recommended by your doctor- sometimes surgery might be used to repair the herniated disc. Depending on what type or the severity of your back injury, microdiscectomy which is a non-invasive type surgery performed by your doctor.

To help prevent further spinal related injuries, it is a good idea to watch your posture. Proper sitting and standing are essential for maintaining a healthy vertebrae system. Remember to always consult a healthcare professional before to see your options and advice.