No combination movements (bending, twisting, arching, lifting, etc.). Don't stay in any one position too long. Avoid any moves that make symptoms in your arms or legs worse. Move with awareness and diligence.
Skip movements that involve significant axial loading on the lower back, such as squats and leg presses. Avoid toe-touches, sit-ups, and yoga poses that worsen the pain and lead to significant bending of the back.
One of the best treatments for the symptoms of a herniated disc is stretching exercises. By gently stretching the muscles in the back, their flexibility is improved, helping them stabilize the disc herniation area. Overall endurance and circulation are also improved with herniated disc exercises, and symptoms improve.
Stretching is actually one of the best ways to minimize and prevent ongoing leg pain from a herniated disc. Hamstring stretching can help decrease the tension across your lower back, and this provides the herniated disc with a better environment to heal.
Sit with the Right Posture
It is proper to sit up straight without slouching. When you slump, you put extra pressure on the discs in the spine and can aggravate your herniated disc. Additionally, you want to ensure your knees are level with your hips. Your hips should be slightly above your knees if you sit at a desk.
Treatment with rest, pain medication, spinal injections, and physical therapy is the first step to recovery. Most people improve in 6 weeks and return to normal activity. If symptoms continue, surgery may be recommended.
A herniated disc may require 1 or 2 days rest to alleviate pain. However, you should resist the temptation to lie in bed for days at a time because your muscles need conditioning to aid the recovery process. If you forgo exercise and physical activity, your body may not respond to treatment as well as it could.
Signs Your Herniated Disc Is Healing
Often, the most severe neurological symptoms of a herniated disc feel better first. Radiculopathy—sharp, shooting pain down a nerve and into an arm or leg—will be one of the first symptoms to go away, followed by muscle weakness along the path of the nerve.
Daily walks are an excellent way to exercise with a herniated disc, without putting additional strain on your spine and causing painful symptoms to flare up.
A herniated disc can cause pain while you sleep for a few reasons. First, when you lie down, the pressure on your discs increases. It can cause the herniated disc to bulge more and pressure your nerves. Second, lying down flat on your back may not be the best position for a herniated disc.
“There are some types of back pain that can get worse when you get a massage,” says Walsh. Specifically, he says, sciatica (sudden-onset pain that extends down the back and into the butt or legs) stemming from a herniated disc can be aggravated by deep tissue stimulation.
According to Spine Universe, chiropractic care is a non-surgical option for herniated disc treatment. This makes choosing a chiropractor to address problems with a herniated disc a viable option if you want to avoid undergoing any surgical procedures.
In addition to natural wear and tear, other factors that can contribute to a bulging disc include repetitive movements, strenuous lifting, twisting of the body, bone spurs pushing against the disc, and many other degenerative conditions.
The average amount of time it takes for a herniated disk to heal is four to six weeks, but it can get better within a few days depending on how severe the herniation was and where it occurred. The biggest factor in healing a herniated disk is time, because most often it will resolve on its own.
Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut answer as to whether your disc herniation will fully heal. With treatment, a disc herniation can dry up, shrink or go away. Your body may have an autoimmune response and aid in healing the herniation.
For most people who develop back pain — whether it is because of a herniated disk or due to another problem — symptoms often go away within six to eight weeks. During that time, you can take steps to ease discomfort.
Once a healthy disc herniates, it will never return to its normal anatomical state—the disease or injury is permanent in nature.
Deep Tissue Massage: There are more than 100 types of massage, but deep tissue massage is an ideal option if you have a herniated disc because it uses a great deal of pressure to relieve deep muscle tension and spasms, which develop to prevent muscle motion at the affected area.
Sitting puts you at a higher risk for sciatica, a herniated or slipped disc, degenerative disc disease, and of course lower back pain. Sitting with your hips and legs in a bent position causes joints, ligaments, and muscles to be under constant pressure and adds tension on your spinal discs.
4) Applying Heat, via a heating pad or heat wrap, even a hot bath may help muscle spasms in the first 2 days of initial pain. Heat helps soft issues to stretch, dilates blood vessels and decreases pain signals giving some relief to the discomfort.
Rest. Most often 1-2 days of strict bed rest will calm severe back pain. Bed rest should not exceed 48 hours. Once you are back into your daily routine, you should take frequent rest breaks throughout the day- but avoid sitting for long periods of time.
Chiropractic care and physiotherapy are both safe and effective treatments for back pain. Discuss your concerns with a healthcare professional for referral for appropriate therapy options. In some cases, incorporating both therapies can maximize benefits and provide both immediate relief and long-term gains.
Yes, a herniated disc is considered a disability by the SSA if you are unable to work for at least 12 months due to the condition. For the SSA to consider your herniated disc a disability, you will need to provide evidence that your herniated disc meets a Blue Book listing to qualify for disability benefits.