Compressed Spinal Disc Disorder

Compressed spinal disk disorder, also known as a herniated disc or "slipped disk," is a medical condition that affects the spine. The condition results from a tear or multiple tears in the outer ring of an intervertebral disk, which allows the soft tissue within the disk to bulge.

Causes

• Compressed spinal disk disorder is often the result of everyday wear and tear, constant sitting or frequent lifting. Cigarette smokers are at a greater risk for developing the condition because of chemicals in the smoke, which speed the deterioration of the disks.

Symptoms

• Disorder symptoms vary and depend largely on the location of the injured tissue. Common symptoms can range from minor to severe pain in the back. Pain usually affects other parts of the body, on one side.

Location

• Pain frequency and severity is dependent on the location of the injured tissue. Cervical disk injury causes neck, skull, shoulder, hand and arm pain. Lumbar and thoracic disk injury causes buttocks, thigh, feet, toe and lower back pain. The disorder rarely affects the thoracic disks because they are usually fairly strong.

Treatment

• Common treatments include pain medication, physical therapy, massage therapy, chiropractic techniques, bed rest, lumbo-sacral support belts and epidural injections in the site of the tissue injury. Overweight patients are often advised to lose weight to alleviate pain.

Surgery

• Surgery should be considered as a last resort and only be used in severe cases when pain cannot be alleviated by non-surgical methods. There are several surgical methods to repair or relieve compressed spinal disc disorder.