How To Relieve Pain From Bulging Disc In Lower Back

How To Heal A Bulging Disc Naturally

People who have been diagnosed with a bulging disc can experience anything from a mild amount of pain to severe and debilitating symptoms. While this condition can eventually heal or be managed, it can also progress without proper treatment, leading to the need for invasive options like surgery. The good news is that its possible to use natural forms of disc herniation treatment that offer relief without resorting to heavy medication and procedures. If you are suffering from a bulging disc, read on to learn about what treatment options you have.

How Does A Herniated Disc Usually Happen

It might be difficult to identify the exact cause of your lower back herniated disc. You might get a herniated disc by using the improper form to lift something heavy you accidentally forget to lift with your legs and engage your back more than your legmuscles.

Twisting or turning awkwardly simultaneously as you lift can also contribute to disc herniation.

Sometimes, people get herniated discs by falling on their back or experiencing other traumatic impacts.

The most common reason for a herniated disc is age-related wear and tear, medically known as disc degeneration. As you age, your discs become more vulnerable to tearing or rupture.

What Is A Herniated Lumbar Disc

A herniated disc occurs when the gel-like center of your disc ruptures out through a tear in the tough disc wall .The gel material is irritating to your spinal nerves, causing something like a chemical irritation. The pain is a result of spinal nerve inflammation and swelling caused by the pressure of the herniated disc. Over time, the herniation tends to shrink and you may experience partial or complete pain relief. In most cases, if low back and/or leg pain is going to resolve it will do so in about 6 weeks.

Different terms may be used to describe a herniated disc. A bulging disc occurs when the disc annulus remains intact, but forms an outpouching that can press against the nerves. A true herniated disc occurs when the disc annulus cracks or ruptures, allowing the gel-filled center to squeeze out. Sometimes the herniation is so severe that a free fragment occurs, meaning a piece has broken completely free from the disc and is in the spinal canal.

Most herniated discs occur in the lumbar spine, where spinal nerves exit between the lumbar vertebrae, and then join together again to form the sciatic nerve, which runs down your leg.

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Secret #: Get Chiropractic Care

How to heal a bulging disc naturally? With chiropractic care, of course! One of the best ways to stop the pain and heal a bulging disc is to see your chiropractor. Not only can a chiropractor diagnose the root cause and find out if you have a herniated or bulging disc, but they can treat it as well.

After imaging, your chiropractor will set up a treatment plan that is designed for you and your exact needs. Since everyone is different, not everyone will be treated the same way.

More than likely, your chiropractor will perform a series of spinal adjustments, to realign the vertebrae and discs. This will prevent any further protrusion outside the spine. Then, depending on your needs, your chiropractor might also use other modalities including:

These are just a few of the things that your chiropractor can offer. You will get the quickest results, not to mention being out of pain much faster, by starting a treatment program with your chiropractor.

What can you do for herniated disc pain? See our most trusted local chiropractor sooner, rather than later!

We use the Alaska Back Pain Protocol method, which involves a three-step treatment plan that has proven itself to be successful for thousands of people with bulging or herniated discs!

What Are The Types Of Surgery

There’s more than one way to fix a disk problem. The specifics of your surgery have to do with what’s actually wrong with your disks.

Herniated/bulging/slipped disk: The procedure is called microdiscectomy. The surgeon removes the part of the disk that’s pushing on a nerve. There are two ways to do this. In the traditional method, the doctor makes an inch-long cut and detaches the muscles on one side of your back. That gives them access to the bony covering where the affected nerve is. Then they can cut out any disk fragments hitting that nerve.

A newer option requires a much smaller incision. Your doctor may refer to it as minimally invasive. Instead of cutting the muscle, they use special tools called dilators that let them get to the nerve. “The main advantage is that you don’t have to detach and reattach the back muscles,” Qureshi says.

Degenerated disks:If you’re in your 60s or older and have a disk problem, there’s a good chance itâs worn down. You may also have arthritis in the facet joints of your spine. This can cause the open spaces within your spine to narrow . It puts pressure on the nerves that lie within these bony channels. The surgical solution is to remove any bone spurs and widen the channel. Your surgeon might also place spacers between the vertebrae or fuse a section of them together to help make your spine more stable. This is called spinal fusion.

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How Can I Relieve My Lower Back Pain

You feel it each time you bend over or stand up. Its that groan-inspiring ache that shoots through your lower back and never seems to fully go away. Sometimes called lumbago or spondylosis, lower back pain is one of the most common forms of chronic pain among adults.

Maybe youve been resting, hoping the back pain just needs time to heal. But most doctors now encourage lower back pain sufferers to get active and move their backs and related muscles as a better pain relief treatment.

Movement can help relieve back pain, but only the right kind avoid workouts that put too much stress and strain on the back. So which exercises should you choose? That partly depends on how intense your pain is, and what causes it. So, you should always get the recommendation of your doctor before doing any heavy exertion for lower back pain.

The following slides present several simple exercises that can help relieve lower back pain, and also highlight a few activities to avoid. With your doctors approval, adding these movements to your workout routine can free you from your nagging, daily pain, leading to better overall health.

How To Treat A Bulging Disc

Unless you have complications from the bulging disc, its worth trying some home treatments first. Complications can include:

• Pain that interferes with daily activities or work
• Lack of bladder or bowel control
• Loss of sensation in areas that would touch a saddle if you were riding a horse like the back of the legs, buttocks or around the groin area.

Home treatment can be useful for those with mild to moderate pain or at least until you can see a pain management specialist.

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Secret #: Heat/ice Therapy And Your Feet

Heat and ice therapy work wonder when you have back pain for two different reasons. Ice will reduce swelling and limit inflammation. Heat will relax the muscles and bring healing nutrients to damaged tissues through improved circulation.

If you have injured your back or had some sort of accident, apply ice for the first 48 hours. Even if your back has been hurting you for a while, try ice first to see if it will stop the pain. However, after 48 hours, you should switch to moist heat.

Remember to never place ice directly on the skin as you can actually burn your skin or give yourself frostbite! Wrap ice or ice packs in a cloth or towel first. Give your skin a break in between ice sessions, generally using it for 10-15 on, then 10-15 minutes off.

Its important to note that, occasionally, back pain isnt caused by problems in your back. Sometimes, other conditions, such as peritonitis, which is an inflammation of the very thin layer that covers your abdomen and the internal organs. Applying heat, even to your back, will cause the inflammation to increase substantially.

If you think you might have peritonitis, you can feel better by applying heat to your feet or your bottom and see your doctor ASAP.

Schedule an Appointment and Receive

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What Is A Lumbar Bulging Or Herniated Disc

Discs are like miniature jelly doughnuts, exactly the right size to fit between your vertebrae. Theyre made out of an outer layer of tough cartilage that surrounds softer cartilage in the center.

A bulging disk looks like a hamburger thats too big for the bun. The disc extends outside its normal place and the bulge typically affects a large portion of the disc.

Bulging is considered part of the normal aging process of the disk.

A herniated disk, on the other hand, happens when a crack in the tough outer layer of cartilage allows some of the softer inner cartilage to escape out of the disk.

Herniated disks are also called ruptured disks or slipped disks, and cause much more pain than compressed discs.

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When Should I See A Doctor

Initially, you can treat herniated disk pain at home. But you should see your doctor if:

• Pain interferes with daily life, like going to work.
• Symptoms arent better after four to six weeks.
• Symptoms get worse.
• You develop loss of bladder or bowel control.
• You notice tingling, numbness or loss of strength in your arms, hands, legs or feet.
• You have trouble standing or walking.

Treatment For A Bulging Disc A Guide To Best Practices

Although no single treatment plan is right for every patient, there are some bulging disc treatment guidelines that are often effective in relieving symptoms. While a bulging disc is not necessarily painful, nerve compression can result if displaced disc material causes narrowing of any of the nerve passageways. If symptoms do occur, doctors will typically build a treatment plan around relieving pain, restoring range of motion and improving overall health.

Since every persons situation is unique, a doctor should make an individualized plan based on your needs. These factors may include the location and severity of the bulging disc, as well as any previously attempted treatment. However, despite the variables, several evidence-based best practices are taken into consideration for many bulging disc treatment plans. Learning more about some of these specific methods can offer you the best chance of getting back to the people and activities youve been missing out on if a bulging disc is disrupting your life.

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She Actually Inspired Todays Article Today Im Going To Tell You What I Told Her

Every week in fact, my clinics and programs are a destination for people from all walks of life who suffer from mild to severe back pain.

The first thing you should appreciate is:

Pain from a herniated disc IS something that can be fixed without drugs, injections or surgery.

Thats right.

Allow me to be clear about this, because its important:

Doctors are under intense pressure to see as many patients as they can.

When a doctor tells you the only way to find relief is through drugs, injections or surgery

Youre not quite being told the whole truth.

Its unfortunate, but the state of our healthcare system forces doctors to live by the old saying

If all youve got is a hammer, everything becomes a nail.

And no matter how well meaning, theyre forced to advocate certain pre-authorized treatments.

Thats reality.

So when doctors put a label on your pain, such as herniated disc, and give you their recommendation

I totally get how good that makes you feel in the moment.

What happens next?

They prescribe some heavy duty Ibuprofen to calm the inflammation, maybe ship you off to a physical therapist, and then

Theyre on to the next patient.

And we already know how well that helps, dont we?

Lets face it:

Myofascial Release And/or Massage May Help Reduce Pain

While myofascial pain may not be the original source of lumbar pain, it may be a secondary source of pain originating from a lumbar herniated disc as well as other structures.2 This can be worsened by poor posture and inactivity. Myofascial release is a form of manual therapy that has been shown to improve low back pain. While postural training and myofascial release can be initiated in physical therapy, there are methods that can be done at home in the meantime.

• Use a lacrosse ball or massage cane to put pressure on tender/trigger points in the lumbar area.
• Once a tender/trigger point is identified, maintain constant pressure for 1 to 2 minutes to allow for release of the muscle.
• Repeat these steps for multiple trigger points in the lumbar area.
• This technique may initially worsen pain as pressure is being placed onto inflamed muscles. It is highly recommended to use cold therapy after myofascial release to reduce pain.

Read more about Myofascial Release Therapy

While the pain from most lumbar herniated discs typically resolve in 6 weeks, you will want to manage it in the meantime and take control of your pain management. These tips may not work for everyone, and it may take time before finding what works best to help relieve your lumbar herniated disc pain.

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Learn About Your Options

Lower back pain treatment at SamWell Institute for Pain Management is customized based on what caused your pain, as well as your response to treatment. All procedures are safely performed under State of the art x-ray image guidance or ultrasound guidance. We provide long-term interventional pain relieving solutions, independent of opioids. Some of the many treatment options include:

• Physical therapy

INTERVENTIONAL PAIN SPECIALIST, MINIMALLY INVASIVE SPINE SPECIALIST & SPORTS MEDICINE SPECIALIST

Exercise : Cobra Pose

Why its beneficial: Prone on Elbows Cobra pose

Important: Cobra Pose is an advanced version of prone on elbows. If you cannot perform prone on elbows, do not advance to this exercise.

Steps

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Bulging Disc Treatments: 7 Ways To Find Natural Relief From Back Pain

A bulging disc is a very common occurrence that results in a spinal disc compressing against an adjacent nerve root. The disc essentially pushes out of its normal place and starts impinging on nearby nerves of the spine, sometimes causing pain. For some people, bulging discs can cause a good deal of discomfort, at times progressing enough that they can become disabling and affect someones quality of life greatly.

There are different severities of bulging or herniated discs some that are more problematic than others. Not everyone with a bulging disc experiences pain or even any noticeable symptoms at all, although many do. In fact, its now understood that many people with bulging herniated discs function without any pain at all and arent even aware of the problem.

Studies show that bulging discs are common more than 50 out of 100 older people examined using magnetic resonance imaging have some degree of a bulging disc but the underlying causes arent well-understood, which makes appropriate treatment difficult.

If youve visited a doctor about a painful bulging disc, you might have been given medications, such as over-the-counter painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxers or steroids to help control your symptoms. While these might work in the short term to keep you more comfortable, they wont target the underlying cause of the bulging disc or prevent another one from forming.

1. See a Chiropractor for Spinal Adjustments

2. Visit a Physical Therapist

Treating Pain And Staying Active

Acute low back pain usually has no clear cause and goes away on its own after a few days. And even if a slipped disc is causing it, your body will probably be able to make the problem go away on its own within six weeks. Most treatments hardly affect the speed of recovery. Hot packs or massages might help you feel better. If you have severe pain, short-term relief can be provided by getting into a position that reduces the strain on your back and by using or local anesthetics. But most of the work is usually done by the body itself.

If slipped disc symptoms persist for a longer time, surgery may be an option to try to relieve the pressure on the affected nerve. However, most experts believe that slipped disc surgery is done more often in Germany than is actually necessary. So it might make sense to get a second opinion if your doctor advises you to have surgery and you arenât sure whether this is the right treatment.

It is particularly important to stay as physically active as possible despite the pain. Exercise will not only keep your body in shape, it generally also has a positive effect on your mood. Getting enough exercise and keeping up the strength of your torso is key in order to stop back pain from becoming chronic. Physical activity has been scientifically proven to have a preventive effect and it is probably the most important thing you can do to help yourself.

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Who Gets A Slipped Disc

Bouts of back pain are very common. However, fewer than 1 in 20 cases of sudden-onset back pain are due to a ‘slipped’ disc.

The most common age to develop a prolapsed disc is between 30 and 50 years. Twice as many men as women are affected. A prolapsed disc is rare in anyone under 20 years of age. For information and advice on back pain in young people, see the separate leaflet called Back Pain in Children.