How Fix a Herniated Disk

A herniated disc in the back can be quite painful. A disc can get herniated as a result of an automobile accident, a sports injury, a fall at home or through the aging process. A disc problem can be treated with anything from rest to surgery, depending on the severity and the amount of pain involved.

Things You'll Need

• Ice pack
• Heating pad

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Instructions

• 1

  Rest and relax for 24 to 48 hours. Most people have busy lives and don't have the time or luxury to "do nothing" for one or two days. However, when you suffer a herniated disc and feel significant pain from a herniated disc, rest is the first option. In many cases, you will feel significantly better after resting.

• 2

  Take pain medication and anti-inflammatory medication. You will likely feel pain at the spot of the herniation and it is also quite likely that pain may radiate to other areas of the body. As a result, pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medication may help you feel better. Over-the-counter pain medication like Tylenol and aspirin may help, but it is quite likely you will need something stronger that is prescribed by your doctor, at least for a short period of time.

• 3

  Do physical therapy exercises to build up the muscles in the back that are close to the spot of the herniation. A physical therapist can provide ultrasound therapy to help relieve pain and offer exercises that can build your strength. Many of those exercises will be with the help of an exercise ball that will help build up your core muscles.

• 4

  Take an epidural steroid injection around the spot of the herniation. Your doctor will inject steroids right into the area in your back where the herniation has occurred. This will provide significant relief in at least 50 percent of disc herniations. You will feel relief from the pain for a period of four weeks to four months.

• 5

  Submit to surgery for the herniation. Many advances have been made in back and disc surgery, and you can be out of the hospital the same day if the doctors perform a procedure called a hemi-laminectomy. In this procedure, a small incision is made and doctors clean up the herniation and make repairs. This will bring pain relief and restore function in many areas that had been impacted by the herniation.