Back pain is a commonly encountered symptom in every sex and age. It can happen in children and adolescents who engage in intense sports such as weight lifting or gymnastics. However, it more often happens in working age people and elderly people. That being said, there are many causes of this condition such as injuries related to accidents, wear and tear due to age and use, congenital abnormalities, cancer and tumors, and infection. Many people likely wonder what kinds of back pain is dangerous and what kinds of back pain will subside on their own. We have some answers for you.
Spinal disc herniation is caused by a spinal disc moving out of place. This moving out of place also includes a rupture of the spinal disc and herniation of the spinal disc. If the spinal disc has herniated but does not compress a nerve, the patient will experience only pain alone, which is localized in nature. For example, the patient might experience neck pain, waist pain, back pain and hip pain. However, if a herniated disc puts pressure on a nerve root, the patient will experience fairly severe symptoms, including leg pain along with numbness and weakness, especially in the feet and ankles, which usually become weak on only one side.
If you have these kinds of back pain, you can suspect spinal disc herniation.
- Pain in the back muscles either at the middle of the back or the lower hip, usually caused by lifting objects, exercising or sitting for an extended period of time.
- Deep pain in the muscles upon palpation.
- Pain in the waist, lower back and hip or sacrum that usually extends to the back of the thighs.
- Pain might be accompanied by numbness and muscle weakness.
- When coughing, sneezing or flexing, the patient will feel more pain. The patient will feel deep pain due to pressure in the spinal cord.
How to Diagnose Spinal Disc Herniation
After you discover that your back pain symptoms are abnormal, you should quickly consult a doctor in order to render a clear diagnosis. In most cases, the doctor will start making a diagnosis by examining the patient’s history and asking questions about pain symptoms, duration of pain and the time when pain occurs in addition to performing a physical examination on the patient, especially if the patient has acute symptoms such as severe back pain due to an accident, fall or lifting a heavy object or instant pain when stretching or leaning with pain becoming more and more severe until it extends to the legs. Once the doctor has rendered an initial diagnosis, if there are suspected symptoms of dangerous back pain, additional lab tests will usually be ordered, such as an MRI. This test will provide a clear view of the pathology of the condition and the extent to which the herniated disc has compressed the nerve root. Thus, it will be very helpful for the doctor in making an appropriate treatment plan.
Treatment Guideline for Spinal Disc Herniation
There are many ways to treat spinal disc herniation, depending on the severity of the patient’s symptoms. In early cases that receive timely treatment, the condition will usually recover on its own, so the patient will only need to take medications such as pain medications and anti-inflammatory medications to reduce swelling of the compressed nerve root, in addition to engaging in appropriate behaviors to rehabilitate the body such as by resting and reducing movements to gradually allow the swollen nerve root to subside. Next, physical therapy and thermal therapy might be necessary to improve muscle strength and reduce pain. Then pain symptoms will gradually improve. However, in cases that are left for a long time without treatment with chronic pain, surgical treatment might be necessary.
Minimally-Invasive Surgical Technology to Treat Spinal Disc Herniation
Today, surgeries for spinal disc herniation have significantly improved with smaller incisions. Through endoscopic surgery, doctors can insert surgical instruments directly through a camera to remove the ruptured spinal disc, leading to smaller surgical wound and reduced pain and effective treatment outcome. As a result, the patient experiences rapid recovery and shorter recovery and hospitalization time while being able to return to work more quickly than traditional surgery.
A benefit of endoscopic surgery is small wound size. By using technology that provides a clear view of the nerves and spinal disc that requires correction, a high level of precision is achieved in neuro and spinal surgeries. However, there is still a risk of recurrence, especially in cases where improper behaviors persist such as lifting heavy objects and using incorrect posture. Therefore, after undergoing spinal disc herniation, in addition to undergoing physical therapy to restore the body according to the doctor’s recommendations, it is also necessary to learn about proper self-care techniques such as how to sit, walk, stand, sleep and get up and down from the driving position, not to mention how to correctly lift objects, especially heavy objects, etc. Importantly, the patient should stop smoking and exercise to restore muscles, which can help prevent recurrence.
