Smart Disc Problems

Problems with the vertebral disc are very painful. They haunt you with excruciating and shooting pain. A vertebral is a plate or disk of cartilage and fiber that contains the nucleus pulpous, a mass of white elastic fiber at its center located between the vertebrae or bones of the spine. Disc problems tend to get worse with age. Aggravation or any injury or any stress can cause a painful disorder known as a slipped disc, herniated disc, pinched nerve, or ruptured disc. In a herniated disc, when the disc ruptures or slips, the white elastic fibers protrude through the cartilage and put pressure on the adjacent nerve root, generating excruciating pain in the affected area.

A herniated disc can sometimes be completely painless, but a degenerative disc can cause intense pain. Degenerative means that the condition is likely to get worse over time. Most patients with a degenerative disc will periodically experience continuous tolerable pain followed by increasing intensity of pain that will automatically subside after some time. It is a cyclical process. A patient with a pinched nerve will experience radicular pain commonly known as nerve root pain, radiculopathy, or sciatic pain, and from the disc itself the patient will usually experience axial pain. The sciatic nerve is the widest and longest nerve in the body running from the spine to the lower leg, which branches into two parts. It can be damaged as a result of various types of injuries in the back, the pelvis, and in lower limbs. Nerve injury creates shooting pain from the thigh to the feet and toes. The intense pain from disc problems can immobilize you and require immediate medical attention, but that doesn't mean the intense pain is related to the extent of the disc damage.

Diagnosis and treatment

An accurate diagnosis of disc problems is made with the help of a medical examination, X-ray, and CT or MRI. These scans are very accurate in identifying whether the source of pain is from a pinched nerve or due to a disc space. The most common treatment is strict bed rest on a firm mattress placed over a hard board until symptoms subside, and nonsteroidal and anti-inflammatory medications. In severe flare-ups, oral steroids and injections may be necessary to reduce inflammation and pain. For patients with a herniated disc, physical therapy, exercise, gentle stretching, and the application of heat, ice, and pain relievers will relieve pain in the affected areas. Pain can also be relieved surgically by removing the herniated portion of the white elastic fibers projecting toward the adjacent nerve root. In the case of a degenerative disc problem, fusion surgery stops the movement of the painful part of the affected part and thus significantly reduces the pain, or an artificial replacement of the disc is performed. However, most disc problems improve over time and therefore may not require surgery, but if there is no relief, then surgery is the best option.

Disc problems, vertebrae, slipped disc, herniated disc, pinched nerve or ruptured disc, degenerative disc, sciatica pain.