How To Manage Slipped Discs A slipped disc, otherwise called a herniated disc, is a common cause of back pain. numerous things can cause a disc to slip out of place, but it is first useful to be able to envisage what a healthy back bone or spine looks like. The spine is a succession of discs sitting each on top of the one below with all the main nerves running through and along side of it. That is, they do not sit directly on top of each other, there is a gap between them, which allows us to bend and twist. When we stand up straight, the discs are supposed to go back to their original place, which is absolutely flat, quarter to and quarter past the hour on the clock face. A slipped disc is normally when the bottom disc does not go back to its normal place but sticks at, say, twenty to and ten past the hour. The lower edge of the disc, the side pointing to twenty to the hour might come to rest on a major nerve - like the sciatic nerve which runs from the waist down to the foot on each side of the body. This condition is known as a slipped disc with a trapped nerve. The pain it produces starts in the lower back but radiates into the buttock and down the leg following the sciatic nerve. Lots of people call this sciatica. It is not the sciatic nerve's fault that it is causing pain - it is completely healthy - but it is being squeezed by the herniated disc which is causing it to become inflamed. Therapy for this condition focuses on alleviating the pain and getting the disc to float back to the horizontal, thereby freeing the nerve and ceasing the leg pain. Often the leg pain is a lot worse than the back pain. In my case, the back pain is always there as a dull ache, but I can live with that. The real problems comes around three to five minutes after standing up. A pain starts in my calf like severe cramp and that rises into my buttock making my leg too painful to put on the ground. The only relief is to sit down again or to take my weight on my arms by leaning on a table. I have found some stretch exercises to help, but because I cannot stand for long, many of them are ruled out. Despite not exercising much, I have lost around 14 pounds and this has assisted my back to some extent. If my back gets bad, I lie on the floor and place my feet up, so that my posture is similar to a sitting position, but without the weight of my upper body on my slipped disc. This is very useful. I have also discovered that adopting the foetal position helps a great deal. I also have massage therapy every 7-10 days. It hurts a great deal at the time, but by the time the masseuse is walking down the path, I already feel better and my situation continues to improve until she returns. Six weeks ago, I could not walk, now I am able to walk around 500 metres unaided.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on a range of subjects, but is now involved with muscle relaxants for back pain. If you would like to know more, please go to our web site at Sore Back Remedies