3 Signs You May Have A Slipped Or Bulging Disc
- Posted on: Sep 30 2022
You may feel pain in your lower back or leg if a disc in your lower spine bulges or tears. These 3 signs will help you determine if you have a protruding or herniated disc in your lower back:
Sitting Pain
Your lower spinal discs are put under tremendous pressure when you sit. The increased pressure within your disc may exacerbate your lower back pain if you have a herniated or bulging disc.
Radiating Pain in Your Leg (Sciatica)
You typically experience herniation or bulge in the posterior (back) or lateral (side) region of your lower back, where your spinal nerve roots are located. There are 2 main ways in which herniated discs can damage these nerve roots:
- Direct compression. As a spinal nerve root exits the spinal canal, the disc’s bulge or leaking inner contents directly press on it.
- Chemical irritation. Herniated discs leak chemical irritants, which may cause inflammation and irritation near nerve roots when they leak out acidic irritants.
You may experience numbness, weakness, or tingling along your thigh, leg, or foot along the affected nerve root’s front or back. Sciatica refers to these symptoms. One leg is usually affected at a time by sciatica symptoms and signs.
Specific Activities Aggravate Pain
You may experience lower back pain or sciatica when performing certain activities, such as:
- Forward/downward bending
- Heavy lifting
- Pushing or pulling a heavy object
- Coughing
- Sneezing
- Exercising
- Doing household chores (for example, gardening)
- Stretching incorrectly or overstretching the muscles in your back
A herniated disc in the lumbar spine usually causes sudden pain. A specific injury or traumatic event is rarely the cause of pain in most cases. Despite that, the pain seems sudden.
Symptoms of this condition can be severe, but they usually last for a short period. Within six weeks, 90 percent of people who experience painful lumbar disc herniation report no longer feeling the pain, even if they did not receive medical treatment.
Sciatica Pain Shouldn’t Keep You Sitting
Your sciatic nerve impingement does not have to leave you in pain. Contact Dr. Jason C. Tinley today to schedule a consultation and learn more about Minimally Invasive Surgery at his Fort Worth, Texas, practice. Call us at (817) 916-4685.
Posted in: Sciatica
