What is a herniated disc?

You’ve probably heard people say they have a “slipped” or “ruptured” disc in the back. Sometimes they complain that their back “went out”. What they’re most likely describing is a herniated disc. This condition is a common source of back and leg pain.

Discs are soft cushions found between the vertebrae that make up the spinal column (your backbone). In the middle of the spinal column is the spinal canal, a hollow space that contains the spinal cord. The nerves that supply the arms, leg, and torso come from the spinal cord. The nerves from the neck supply the arms and hands, and the nerves from the low back supply the butt and legs. The discs between the vertebrae allow the back to move freely and act like shock absorbers.

The disc is made up of two main sections. The outer part (the annulus) is made up of tough cartilage that is comprised of series of rings. The center of the disc is a jelly-like substance called the nucleus pulposus. A disc herniates or ruptures when part of the jelly center pushes through the outer wall of the disc into the spinal canal, and puts pressure on the nerves. A disc bulge is when the jelly substance pushes the outer wall but doesn’t completely go through the wall.

What do you feel?

Low back pain will affect four out of five people during their lifetime. The most common symptom of a herniated disc is “sciatica”. Sciatica is best described as a sharp, often shooting pain that begins in the buttocks and goes down the back of one leg. This is most often caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve that exits the spinal cord. Other symptoms include:

• Weakness in one leg or both legs
• Numbness and tingling in one leg (pins & needles)
• A burning pain centered in the low back
• Loss of bladder or bowel control (seek medical attention immediately)
• Back pain with gradually increasing leg pain.

(If you have weakness in both legs. Seek immediate attention.)

How do you know you have a herniated disc?

Your medical history is key to a proper diagnosis. A physical examination can usually determine which nerve roots are affected (and how seriously). A simple x-ray may show evidence of disc or degenerative spine changes. An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is usually the best option (most expensive) to determine which disc has herniated.

Why do discs herniate?

Discs are primarily composed of water. As we become older (after the age of 30), the water content decreases, so the discs begin to shrink and lose their shape. When the disc becomes smaller the space between the vertebrae decreases and become narrower. Also, as the disc loses water content the disc itself becomes less flexible.

While aging, excess weight, improper lifting and the decrease in water in the discs all contribute to the breaking down of discs, the primary cause of a herniation or bluge is uneven compression and torsion that’s placed on the discs.

This uneven pressure is caused by imbalances in muscles that pull the spine out of it’s normal position and then your body is forced to function in what I call a physical dysfunction. Every human being develops these dysfunctions over time and eventually they cause enough damage to create pain.

The best treatment options

When it comes to treating a herniated disc, there are traditional treatments such as ice/heat, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, cortisone injections, anti-inflammatory medications and even surgery. While these may deliver some relief, it will usually be temporary if at all.

But the major problem with these traditional treatments is that they can’t fix or heal a herniated disc as they do not address the actual cause of the problem. For example, even if you were to have a surgery and get some pain relief, the fact is the dysfunctions that caused the disc to herniated in the first place are still there and if not addressed, they will continue to place uneven pressure and strain on the discs and sooner or later you will likely have another problem with that disc, or others.

Without identifying and addressing the underlying cause of the problem, which is the physical dysfunctions caused by imbalances in muscles, you will likely continue to suffer with this condition and the continuous flare ups for years.

Unfortunately, most doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists don’t spend time or focus on identifying the physical dysfunctions that are responsible for the condition so most people end up jumping from one useless traditional treatment to the next and suffer for months or years unnecessarily.

If you have been diagnosed with a herniated disc, or are wondering if your back pain may be caused by a herniated disc, either way you must identify and address the physical dysfunctions that are causing your pain.

For more information on herniated discs and how to treat them effectively, read the latest Back Pain Advisory from The Healthy Back Institute. You can get a free copy of it here: losethebackpain.com/herniateddisc.html losethebackpain.com/herniateddisc.html

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Tags: herniated disc, low back pain, what is a herniated disc

There are many benefits of chiropractic care. If you are considering seeking out this type of treatment, there are many reasons why it can and should be done. Those that find themselves with problems with their body often do not realize that chiropractic care can often relieve these problems when other medicinal options will not. Often times, it is necessary to seek out the help of a chiropractor if relief will be found.

What Can They Do For Me?

There are many physical benefits to chiropractic care. Here are just a few of the things that can be made better in your life through chiropractic care.

· Decreased arthritis and pain in joints that have arthritis.
· Pain relief from all areas of the body, virtually.
· Reduction of pain in the back, legs, feet and knees through the relief of spinal pressure
· Less stiffness in the areas that are treated
· Less muscle spasms throughout the region
· You will be able to move better and more if you were restricted to begin with.
· Range of motion will increase.
· You have better coordination from taking that step to throwing that baseball.
· You have increased energy, self esteem and you just overall feel better

There are additional benefits of chiropractic care as well. When you realign the body as it should be, you relieve pressure throughout it. This often allows you body to begin to heal as it should again. For example, it can help your joints to heal, your tissues to heal and your pains to leave.

Some relief through chiropractic care is actually immediate. Often times, when you lay on a chiropractic table and the doctor works his magic you will get up feeling better. This is due to the fact that the doctor has the ability to realign joints and limbs that are not right now. That means that when he puts them back into place he can and he will provide you with a lot of immediate relief.

Other times, a chiropractic care treatment can leave you a bit sore and aching. This is due to the very same reasons. Consider the fact that your body has been out of line for so long that it is going to feel different and it may hurt a bit to fix it. Although your doctor will tell you what to expect from the chiropractic care treatment, it is a sure thing that benefits are likely if you need them.

Ideally, everyone should seek out a doctor for this type of treatment. Yet, this is not always the case. The benefits of chiropractic care should push more people into doing it because it can be so overwhelmingly beneficial to your body and your mind’s well being.

Sandy Sizemore writes on many consumer related topics including health care. You can find healthcareconsumerguide.com/chiropractic-care.html lower back pain treatment and healthcareconsumerguide.com/index.html low back pain relief and more by visiting our health care website.

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Tags: low back pain

Many people come to me with low back pain—medical procedures have failed to provide the relief they were promised. It is with deep humility and reverence that I broach this topic, because the majority of people believe Western Medicine is the most sophisticated and advanced health care system in the world. If this were the case, why, then does the United States rank as low as sixteenth (16th) in health care compared to other countries.

See my article: The Operation Was a Success—The Patient Died – 250,000 Deaths Annually -

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Tags: low back pain

When I was six, I loved to soak in a huge old bathtub for hours, especially in the dead of winter. Then, only under duress, I would emerge, leaving my yellow duckie to bob about while I sank into slumber. What happened to one of the best rituals of life? One of life’s little pleasures, delicious and almost free, a ritual full of things I so need in my stress filled adult life.

Back then, I soaked in a tub because it left me feeling wonderful. I knew nothing of the Japanese passion for soaking, or that the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates promoted the healthful effects of bathing, or the German’s Nineteenth Century studies into the benefits of hydrotherapy, or that this universal fad would finally start to catch on here in my own country, long before I made my self-discovery.

No one knows for sure just how profound the health benefits of hydrotherapy are (also known as balneotherapy), probably because the cultures who indulge the most are the least concerned with the science of the act and focused instead on the ritual and simple trust of knowing how good they feel during and after the pleasures of a long hot soak. Western culture asks for proof of the benefits (”Show me”), and to this end, let’s look at some of the data that documents what the Greeks, Romans, and Japanese have known for a thousand plus years, that soaking offers a feeling of physical well-being, relieves the pain of physical wounds or aching muscles, calms the mind, and nourishes the spirit… that the spirit of soaking transcends the act of getting clean. A look at the data through randomized single and double blind controlled studies from around the world documents medical improvements in patients with low back pain, spasticity, improved range of motion, benefits for ventilated patients, psychological and emotional improvements, improvements with varicose veins, quality of life improvements, and a cadre of other physical gains and self reported psychological benefits.

Studies ranging in size from thirty to two thousand five hundred subjects document the benefits of hydrotherapy and suggest that it is a valuable adjunct to other forms of physical and drug treatments. Some studies even note a reduction in the need for other therapies. The addition of hydrotherapy to a rehabilitation program is repeatedly shown to be advantageous. Studies also document that mineral water, used instead of tap water, can heighten the longevity of beneficial effects. These studies document what has been known or assumed since humans began the ritual of plopping into geothermal springs only to discover relief of some sort. That said, we are not all living with the luxury of volcanic (or geothermal) springs at our back door, but we can enjoy various other types of spas.

Hydrotherapy (or balenotherapy) is the use of water in various states and temperatures to maintain health and promote healing. Steam, ice, hot, tepid, and cold water are all used in a number of ways alone or as part of a therapeutic regimen. For example, ice is applied to a sprained ankle or sore muscles are soothed by soaking in a hot tub. Most forms of hydrotherapy have become accepted remedies. Many are universally prescribed by both conventional and alternative health practitioners. The basic properties of water allow this nontoxic and readily available substance to be used in numerous ways. Hydrotherapy takes advantage of water’s unique ability to store and transmit both cold and heat. Cold has a “depressant” affect, decreasing normal activity, constricting blood vessels, numbing nerves, and slowing respiration. Heat-based hydrotherapies, such as hot tubs, have the opposite effect. As the body attempts to throw off excess heat and keep the body temperature from rising, dilation of blood vessels occurs, providing increased circulation.

Contrast therapies, such as immersing in hot and then cold water, are used to dramatically stimulate circulation. For example, a thirty minute contrast bath beginning with soaking for four minutes in a hot tub and then dropping into a cold plunge for one minute, repeated for a total of thirty minutes, can produce a 95 percent increase in blood flow. If you are looking for a natural high, this may be it! Water-based therapies in spas are currently used throughout conventional, complementary, and alternative medicine.

Hydrotherapy itself is used by almost all physical therapy centers. Numerous techniques using water are considered standard methods of treatment for rehabilitation and pain relief, including exercise in hydrotherapy pools, whirlpool baths, and swimming pools. These standard techniques are now being combined with treatments such as Watsu (water Shiatsu, a massage while being held in the water). Clinical benefits aside, westerners are catching onto the secret that the ritual of a long luxurious bath or soak offers a multitude of special pleasures. Instead of racing to the shower to get clean to go out for the night, the shower can be a prelude to an evening soak.

Another distinction between Eastern and Western bathing rituals: in the Japanese culture, one would never enter a tub dirty. Their idea is to get clean, then soak the soul. Westerners regretfully soak in their wash water (making us want to get in and out), which fact might explain why we see bathing as a means to an end. But once we adapt to the separateness of the two experiences, washing versus soaking, both seem more enticing. The West may never convert to the ritual of sitting down on a stool to scrub prior to soaking, but we might accept the separation of the two acts. So treat yourself and your loved ones to the time-revered pleasure of a hot tub soak. Your body and your soul won’t regret it!

Roberta Jordan has a Master’s degree in rehabilitation administration from the University of San Francisco.

Roberta and Carl Mott own Shoji Spa, an upscale Japanese style outdoor hot tub day spa in Asheville, which offers contrast therapies including sauna, cold plunge, private hot tubs, and massage therapy. Shoji’s 25 Worls Class Therapists specialize in couples massages. The spa menu includes Swedish, Deep Tissue, Thai, Shiatsu, Warm Stone and herbal body wraps. Call (828)299-0999 for more information.

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Tags: low back pain, massage, massage therapy, mineral, quality of life