Hi folks,

I was recently writing to an online friend here at DS who seems to have a lower back disc herniation. While I had my disc herniation I picked up a lot of tips from the various specialists who I saw and I thought I'd share them here in the hope it might help any sufferers.

A disc herniation is generally when the outer edge of the disc either bulges or tears letting out some of the inner contents of the disc which then presses on the nerves which are between discs and bones and muscles.

Pressure on the nerves leads to terrible pain as the nerves are the bodies way of communicating if something is working or not and also the bodies way to tell parts of our bodies to move or feel things. Pressure on the nerves gives pain that can range from an ache to a shooting stabbing pain and probably many more combinations that people have personally experienced.

In my case I had an L4/L5 disc prolapse (a lot of inner stuff squished out through a tear) and an L5/S1 disc bulge. The nerves that were affected for me were the front and sides of both of my lower legs some areas on the thighs and the lower back area. I had numbness, some tingling & pain. I was very lucky that the nerve was not compressed to the point of losing function - I still had some feeling in both legs, if I had lost feeling or ability to control the toes then I probably would have had to have surgery.

Anyway....

These are the things I learnt.

Sitting is one of the worst things you can do with a herniated disc because you are putting more load bearing pressure onto the disc which can put more pressure on the tear area and your nerves leading to more pain so avoid sitting. I got to the point that I avoided sitting for years I only stood or laid down on a mat/towel/carpet. It made life difficult but I think it did help my back to heal. Its taken me a while to realise I can sit again so you may find that happens to you.

To avoid sitting I laid down in the car (putting the car seat back as far as it could go) and I braced myself on either side with my arms to prevent going forward too much on braking or accelerating. When getting up out of the car it was cruicial for me to turn onto my side and then my front and then push myself up off the seat which keeping the abdominal muscles braced. (My deep core muscles were still pretty weak at this point)

Very important point. The way to get up from lying down is not to lean forward but to brace your stomach muscles as strong as you can and roll onto your side and then gently using your arms and legs lever yourself up. While moving try to keep your back as straight as possible to stop any movement around the disc area.

If you have enough room to roll onto your front and then get up slowly with your arms and legs that is even better. Hold your tummy (abdominal muscles) in while rolling onto your side or front.

The best way to be certain you are holding your abdominal muscles strong is to take a deep breath in and then purse your lips a bit and blow out through your lips in a medium deliberate breath out while clenching you abdominal muscles and drawing you tummy as close to your spine as possible. Use this clenched muscle technique whenever you are getting up or down and it will help protect your back and disc from further jarring - preventing later pain.

The thing which provides the best pain relief for this type of injury is to get strong core and abdominal muscles. The problem is it is very hard to do this without causing further injury to your disc so it has to be done very slowly and very carefully with help from a professional. In my case a physical therapist was the best choice and gave me the best help. The reason for needing a professional is they have to judge how hard you can work without causing futher damage/pain. As your muscles become stronger they can compensate for your disc injury and you will get relief from the pain. If your muscles are already strong then you are lucky and will probably still need to work a bit but you have a natural advantage.

Dont do any lifting or carrying as this will increase the load on your back and disc, causing more pain and quite possibly more damage.

Remember that pain will often be delayed in this type of injury - so you may not know that you are causing more damage until a couple of days after the event.

When lying down bend your knees as this relieves pressure on the lower back area. I found that sleeping with a pillow under my knees was useful.

Lying down on a hard surface will give your back the most support and give you relief from some pain.

Lying down and standing were my two options.

If you have a weak abdominal/core area like I did then you may want to get a waist band corset thing which can help support your back and stop you from being able to bend in the wrong way. I got one from my physical therapist (physiotherapist).

Lying down will relieve pressure on the disc giving you some relief from pain but its important to exercise (at an appropriate level - not too much or you could cause more damage, and in an appropriate way or you will cause more damage) to keep or build those abdominal muscles (NOT by doing crunches!!!).

Once you have strong abdominal/core muscles you will gradually get some relief from pain as the muscles will not only protect your disc from further injury they will also take away some of the load bearing on your spine reducing pressure on the disc and nerves.

In time the bulge will scar over and reduce slightly in size giving you some relief from pain. The same occurs for a disc prolapse - the squished out bit of disc will slowly dryup and shrink to become less of a problem. Unfortunately in my case this took around 2 years. How long it takes for you is a very personal thing. How much has squished out? How much is it pressing on your nerves? Your age is also an important factor - the older you are the more solid the mass is.

Hope some of this info is useful for people, feel free to ask questions if I can add more I will.