| What is this Condition? | | | | The doctor will ask for detailed information about |
| Herniated disk is a back problem that starts when all | | | | what causes pain because that helps pinpoint the |
| or part of the soft, central portion of a spinal disk is | | | | damage. The person will be put through several |
| forced through the disk's weakened or torn outer | | | | leg-raising and other motion tests to check for |
| ring. When this happens, the protruding disk may rub | | | | evidence of a pinched nerve. A spinal X-ray won't |
| against spinal nerve roots or the spinal cord itself, | | | | show the damaged disk, but can rule out other |
| causing back pain and other signs of pinched nerves. | | | | causes of leg pain or numbness. |
| Herniated disks mostly affect men under age 45. | | | | After the physical exam and X-rays, additional scans |
| What Causes it? | | | | using a dye or multiple views can show a more exact |
| Herniated disks may result from a bad fall or strain, | | | | picture of herniated disk material. |
| or may be related to joint degeneration. In elderly | | | | How is it Treated? |
| people, whose disks have begun to degenerate, a | | | | Treatment depends on the severity of the damage |
| minor injury may cause herniation. Most disk damage | | | | done by the herniated disk and can include the |
| (90%) occurs in the lower back; 8%, in the neck | | | | following: |
| area; and 1% to 2%, at chest level. | | | | - several weeks in bed, possibly in pelvic traction, |
| A person with this condition who was born with a | | | | unless nerve damage progresses rapidly. This |
| small lower back spinal canal or who has abnormal | | | | conservative treatment progresses to an exercise |
| vertebral bone formation may be more susceptible to | | | | program. The person may use a hot pad and take |
| pinched and damaged nerves. | | | | aspirin to reduce inflammation and swelling. |
| What are its Symptoms? | | | | Sometimes, the doctor prescribes muscle relaxants |
| The main symptom of lower-back herniated disk is | | | | or, rarely, corticosteroids . |
| severe, low back pain, which radiates to the | | | | - surgery for a herniated disk that fails to respond to |
| buttocks, legs, and feet, usually on one side. If the | | | | conservative treatment. The most common |
| disk was hurt in a fall, the pain may begin suddenly, | | | | procedure, called laminectomy, involves removing a |
| fade in a few days, then recur and intensify. Hip pain | | | | portion of a thin plate of bone and the protruding |
| follows, beginning as a dull pain in the buttocks. | | | | disk. If surgery doesn't relieve symptoms, a spinal |
| Coughing, sneezing, or bending intensifies the pain and | | | | fusion may be necessary to stabilize the spine. |
| sometimes causes muscle spasms. | | | | - instead of laminectomy, injection of an enzyme |
| Herniated disk may also cause numbness around the | | | | called Chymodiactin into the herniated disk to dissolve |
| pinched spinal nerve and, in later stages, weakness of | | | | the disk's nucleus, or microsurgery to remove |
| the leg muscles. | | | | fragments of the damaged disk. |
| How is it Diagnosed? | | | | |