Your spine is the core of your body. It helps you remain upright, connects to your limbs and encases your spinal cord, which sends messages all around your body. It’s an essential piece of equipment and needs to be well taken care of.
A herniated disc is an injury that affects your spine, and about two per cent of the population experience a herniated disc annually. Herniated disc chiropractors can help you find relief if you are one of these people, through targeted herniated disc treatment.
What is a herniated disc?
Your spine is made up of a series of small bones called vertebrae. Between each individual vertebra is a small, round cushion called a disc. These discs allow the spine’s hard vertebrae bones to move freely so that you can shift and bend as you need. Discs also provide shock absorption for the vertebrae.
The inside of each disc is gooey-soft and the outside is rubbery-soft. The outer layer may become weaker over time and split. A herniated disc happens when the gooey soft inside comes out through the split, rubbery outside.
What causes a herniated disc?
There are a few things that make you more susceptible to a herniated disc:
Your age
Our entire body ages with us, including our spine. While this makes us more susceptible to a herniated disc, there are ways that we can take care of ourselves to help maintain a strong, healthy spine as we age.
Your weight
Additional weight will put pressure on your spine, which can lead to a herniated disc.
Your occupation or hobbies
If your job requires you to do repetitive physical movement, this can lead to a herniated disc. Equally, physically repetitive hobbies can lead to herniated discs.
The most common causes of a herniated disc include:
Heavy lifting
If you lift something heavy or twist in a way that is not familiar to your body you may strain your spine and cause a herniated disc.
Poor posture
Poor posture puts stress on your spine, and over a period of time may lead to a herniated disc.
Trauma
A car accident, a fall or a sports injury may lead to a herniated disc.
What are the symptoms of a herniated disc?
A herniated disc is usually painful and the pain may manifest in different ways, depending on where the herniated disc is in your spine.
If you have a herniated disc in the upper part of your spine, you may experience pain in your shoulders, neck, arms, hands and fingers. This pain may be persistent and severe, depending on your injury. You may also have a tingling sensation or muscle weakness.
If your herniated disc is in the lower part of your spine, you may feel sharp pain or tingling in your bottom, legs and lower back. Sometimes you may also experience loss of bladder control.
When your pain symptoms start to lessen it’s a good sign a herniated disc is healing.
What to do if you have a herniated disc
The following can help improve a herniated disc:
Time: sometimes herniated discs heal themselves with time, and sometimes you may not even know you have a herniated disc.
Rest: allowing your body to rest – whether that be bed rest or avoiding strenuous exercise – will help to heal a herniated disc.
Gentle exercise: while rest is important, so is gradually bringing movement to your body. There are gentle exercise options like walking, tai chi or yoga that may help improve your symptoms.
Pain relief: you can choose natural pain relief like a heat pack, or more pain relief medicine.
Can a chiropractor help a herniated disk?
When you visit a herniated disc chiropractor, we will provide you with a holistic treatment plan that will help you identify signs a herniated disc is healing, and that will help avoid future problems with your discs.
To help treat your pain symptoms, we might use hands-on adjustments to help relax your muscles and improve your overall alignment. Long-term poor posture may eventually lead to a herniated disc, and chiropractic care can help you improve your posture, through targeted adjustments and perhaps an exercise plan for you to take home.
When you come in for your appointment, we will take the time to understand what might be causing your pain, and what you are trying to achieve with chiropractic care – whether it’s alleviating herniated disc pain, getting back to working out or playing with your kids again.
How can I avoid a herniated disc?
At Gateway to Wellness, we provide chiropractic care that goes beyond symptom relief. So while we can treat your herniated disc pain we can also look at the underlying causes to help you move through life pain-free, for longer.
There are plenty of things you can do to support a healthy spine:
- Strengthen your back and core with exercises
- Take care lifting heavy objects
- Stay active
If you or a family member are suffering from a herniated disc, get in touch to see how one of our herniated disk chiropractors may be able to help today.
