What are the symptoms of Herniated Discs?
What are the symptoms of Herniated Discs?
What are the non-surgical treatment options?
What are the surgical treatment options?
A herniated disc has many symptoms. It can cause only minimal pain or result in excruciating and debilitating back or neck pain. This can cause problems when diagnosing, since the symptoms can differ based on where the ruptured disc is located and what kinds of tissues and nerves are affected.
The different symptoms of the disorder are caused by the impact on the spinal nerves or cord. This results in problems with the signals passing through the nerves. The signals may become irregular or even lost when going through the pinched nerves.
The pain experienced with a herniated disc can be described as electric shock pain, because it feels like the powerful shock you get when you touch a live electrical wire. If the herniation is found in the neck or cervical region, the shock can be felt going through your arms. If the ruptured disc is located in your lumbar region or lower back, the shocks travel down your legs. Regular pain brought about by muscle spasms tend to have a throb that comes and goes, this pain is continuous.
A herniated disc can also cause inexplicable sensations like pins and needles, tingling and numbness. These can happen in the same area where the electric shock pain is. The disrupted signals from the brain can also lead to muscle weakness. If the torn disc irritates the sciatic nerve, this disorder can also lead to sciatica. This is characterized by several symptoms similar to the herniation. It includes pain felt in the lower back, foot and buttocks; numbness, pins and needles; muscular weakness; and tingling and difficulty in moving or controlling the legs.
All of these symptoms are normally felt in just one side of the body. If the ruptured disc is large enough, it may irritate the spinal cord or the cadua equina structure of the lumbar area. This would make the symptoms present in both sides of the body. This can also lead to numbness around the genital area and problems having bowel movements or urinating. When this happens, a doctor should be contacted immediately because this is a grave medical problem.
To confirm a herniated disc, your doctor needs to do a series of examinations. They also need to be done to determine where the ruptured disc is located, how severe the problem is, and what would be the best course of treatment.
First, your medical history and symptoms will be taken down. Then you will go through a medical exam. One of the simplest tests done to confirm a herniated disc is a straight leg raise. The patient can sit or lie down as the doctor lifts the leg. The knee must be kept straight during the test. If the patient feels pain when the leg is raised at 30 to 70 degrees, then the results are positive.
Aside from this, imaging may be done to see the herniated disc itself. X-rays can be done to exclude other problems in the bone. If the x-ray results don’t show any other cause for the symptoms, a CAT scan may be done. This will check the soft tissues and structures around the spinal canal, as well as its contents, shape and size.
An MRI test can also be done to take three-dimensional images of the body’s internal organs. One test that is no longer as popular is the myelogram. This is an x-ray taken after a contrast material is injected in the cerebrospinal fluid spaces surrounding the area where the suspected herniated disc is. However, the use of contrast material makes this a less popular practice.
An electromyogram and nerve conduction study may also be done. These tests check for the electrical impulse along muscle tissues, peripheral nerves and nerve roots. It can see if there is nerve damage that is currently in progress, if there is any nerve compression, or if the nerves are already healing from a past injury.
Additional tests may also be done to prevent misdiagnosis. Other disorders may cause the same symptoms as a herniated disc; these include tumors, metastases, space-occupying lesions, spondylolistehsis and degeneration.