A herniated disc happens when a disc's soft center pushes through a tear in its tough outer layer. The lower back is the usual site, and it can bring pain, numbness or weakness in an arm or leg. Trouble with bladder or bowel control, or numbness around the rectum and inner thighs, needs the ER.
A Disc Problem Does Not Always Hurt
You can have a herniated disc and never know it. Some people find out only from an MRI done for another reason. Others feel it as a sharp pain down a leg that flares when they laugh, cough or sneeze.
What usually decides this is whether the disc is pressing on a nerve, and where in the spine it sits.
Understanding a Herniated Disc
A herniated disc is a spinal disc whose soft, jelly-like center has pushed out through a tear in its outer layer. People also call it a slipped or ruptured disc. It can happen anywhere in the spine, most often in the lower back, and symptoms depend on whether it presses on a nerve.
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Discs dry out with age
Young discs hold a lot of water. They lose it over the years and grow less flexible.
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The outer layer gives way
A stiffer disc can tear with small movements, even a bend or a twist.
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The center pushes out
Soft material moves through the tear and can press on a nerve root, which may bring pain, numbness or weakness.
Things that raise the odds
- Extra body weight
- Jobs that mean constant lifting, bending or twisting
- Long hours of driving
- Smoking
- Too little exercise
- A family history of disc trouble
- Being a man between 20 and 50, the group most likely to have one
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says a herniated disc also gives off chemical irritants, so a nerve can be inflamed as well as squeezed.
Herniated vs. Bulging Discs
The two get mixed up because both change a disc's shape. Either one can sit there without symptoms, and the difference comes down to the outer layer.
| What differs | Bulging disc | Herniated disc |
|---|---|---|
| What happens | The outer layer pushes outward, usually a quarter to a half of its rim | A crack opens in the outer layer and softer material sticks out |
| What is involved | Only the tough outer layer | The small area around the crack; the whole disc does not slip or rupture |
| Chance of pain | Lower | Higher, since the material reaches farther and can inflame a nerve root |
A herniated disc tends to hurt more than a bulging one, Mayo Clinic says, usually because it inflames the nerve root.
How a Herniated Disc Can Feel
- Pain in the low back, buttock, thigh or calf, sometimes reaching the foot
- Pain mostly in the shoulder and arm, when the disc is in the neck
- Sharp or burning pain that flares with a laugh, cough or sneeze
- Numbness or tingling that spreads along one nerve
- Weak muscles, with dropped objects, trouble lifting or an unsteady walk, which you should get checked
- Symptoms limited to one side of the body
Why Discs Herniate
Most of the time, people cannot point to what caused it.
Age-related wear
Discs that have lost water and flexibility are the ones most likely to tear.
Lifting with your back
Heavy lifting that relies on the back in place of the legs can do it, more so with a twist.
A fall or a blow
A hard fall or a blow to the back can herniate a disc, though this is uncommon.
How We Treat a Herniated Disc in Towson
Care depends on the location of the disc and what it is pressing on. Based on our comprehensive evaluation and your condition, one of these services may be recommended.
Chiropractic
Care for a disc injury may begin with a review of your medical history and physical health. Adjustments can follow, with the aim of easing pressure on nerves. For bulging discs in particular, care may include spinal adjustments and an exercise plan.
Spinal Decompression
Decompression stretches the spine, with the goal of opening space between the vertebrae. Herniated and bulging discs are among the reasons it may be offered.
Traction Therapy
Back on Trac may be an add-on for a herniated disc, and lumbar traction is also available at this clinic.
Chiropractic Rehab
Exercise plans come up in guidance on bulging discs, and rehab work is done by chiropractic assistants. Ask whether a plan like this applies to your herniated disc.
To see if you are a candidate for gentle chiropractic treatment, the chiropractor carefully evaluates your condition. If you have numbness, tingling or weakness, it is carefully screened with orthopedic and neurologic testing, to isolate the cause and how your symptoms present.
Comparing Herniated Disc Options
This is not a full list. A doctor or spine specialist can go through what else is available.
| Option | What it involves | Who provides it |
|---|---|---|
| Rest and changed activity | A day or two of rest at most, then slow, controlled movement and breaks from sitting. | You, with advice from your doctor |
| Medicine | Anti-inflammatory medicine, such as ibuprofen or naproxen. | Your doctor or pharmacist |
| Exercise | Work on the lower back and stomach muscles. | Chiropractic assistants do rehab here. Elsewhere, ask your doctor |
| Chiropractic adjustments | A chiropractor's hands on a joint of the spine. | A chiropractor, when recommended |
| Spinal decompression and traction | A stretch of the spine. | This clinic, if recommended |
| Surgery | Mayo Clinic says most people do not need it. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says it usually follows nonsurgical care that has not helped, or comes with muscle weakness, trouble walking or lost bladder or bowel control. Ask your doctor how long to try other care first. | A spine surgeon |
Herniated Disc Emergencies
Go to the emergency room now if you cannot hold urine or stool, or cannot urinate even with a full bladder. Go as well for numbness in your inner thighs, the backs of your legs or around the rectum, or for symptoms that keep getting worse and make daily life hard.
Call a health professional for
- Neck or back pain that spreads into an arm or leg
- Numbness or tingling
- Weakness in an arm or leg
Mayo Clinic says that when a disc presses on the bundle of nerves below the spinal cord, called the cauda equina, it is a medical emergency, and without quick treatment weakness can last or paralysis can follow.
Disc Care on E Joppa Rd
Any plan may be shaped around your own needs, and chiropractic care can be combined with treatment from your own doctor.
Near Goucher Woods
This stretch of E Joppa Rd backs onto Towson Estates. Goucher Woods sits about 0.4 miles to the northwest, with Goucher College about a mile out in the same direction.
Book a Herniated Disc Evaluation
If you have had an MRI or other scan, it helps to bring the report or know where it was done. Please phone the clinic with insurance or cost questions.