Do you experience back pain after bending forward or lifting?
Since the back pain began have you experienced any numbness, tingling or shutting pains down the back of the leg/legs?
Is the pain sometimes worse in the morning?
Then you may have herniated a disc. This may appear at first to be. Scary notion, but not to worry as many people will have disc bulges and herniations in their lifetime and never even realize, with the prevalence of disc herniations in asymptomatic populations ranging from 20% in young adults to >75% in patients older than 70 years of age. The only time that people experience disc related pain is if the nerve that supplies a disc becomes irritated or compressed. Similarly, if the herniating disc compresses nerves that supply the disc or the nerves that supply the limbs of the body, it can case pain and neurological symptoms. Disc herniations usually occur at the bottom of the spine, due to the shape of the spines and the increased load this area takes. People between the ages of 25-55 years old have an approximately 95 percent chance of herniated discs occurring either at L4-L5 or L5-S1, symptoms of this may include shooting pains down the back of the leg, numbness and tingling or weakness that again travel to the foot\feet or a band of pain across the lower back.
Tips to help manage symptoms
Because a disc herniation is always caused by a combination of bending forward and twisting avoiding these movements are key within the first couple of weeks of initial injury. Similarly, movements that involve the opposite movement (extending backwards) can be very beneficial in helping the disc matter recede. An example of this may include laying on your front in a semi-plank position with your abdomen touching the floor so that you resemble a sphinx. From there look all the way up to the ceiling only allowing you back to extended slightly so that you feel a barrier in the lower spine. Repeat this 10 times. Cold is also useful in reducing some of the inflammatory pain in the area.
How can we help
Manual therapy has been demonstrated in the research to be an effective way of improving spinal mobility and reducing pain in patients with disc herniations and can aid in a person’s recovery time. Our team will help to create space and recede pressure on the spinal nerves causing your symptoms and help improve the tone and strength of the muscles that stabilize the spine.
At The Art Of Healing we pride ourselves on our bespoke approach to treating disc bulges, which uses a mixture of osteopathy, manual therapy, dry needling to reduce muscle tension allow space for the disc. We also pride ourselves on using the latest in orthopedic and medical research for rehabilitation and techniques, such as our new IDD machine (Intervertebral Differential Dynamics machine), which is a successful and trusted cost effective, non-surgical spinal decompression treatment for back pain, neck pain and related problems caused by disc bulges. As a clinic we have helped hundreds of patients suffering with disc herniations and offer guaranteed same day hands on treatment with our expert team to give you relief from your symptoms and develop plans for future progression.
