Herniated Disc

Herniated disc pain can be one of the most frustrating types of pain to deal with.  Not only is the pain very stubborn in most cases, it can also be very disabling because of the nerves that are involved.

This article will cover the top 3 things a person can do from home to alleviate herniated disc pain, but I want to explain a little about what causes the pain, so the 3 steps I teach you make sense.

The discs of the spine are cushions that separate the vertebrae (bones of the spine).  I like to refer to them as jelly doughnuts, because they are made up of a firm outer layer, and a jelly center.

The jelly inside the disc is very important, because this is where the disc gets nutrition and oxygen, which is how the disc stays healthy.  One of the things that makes healing a herniated disc very tricky is the fact that the discs of the spine do not have a very good blood supply.

This creates a problem, because blood is usually what the body uses in order to transport nutrition and oxygen to the different parts of the body in order to promote healing.

Because the discs do not receive a lot of blood, they usually take quite a long time to heal.  However, the cause of the pain you are experiencing is not the disc itself – it is actually the nerve of the spine that is being pinched by the herniated disc.

A herniated disc occurs when the thick outer covering of the disc tears, and the jelly in the center starts to push through the tears.  This creates a bulge in the disc.

Unfortunately, the nerves of the spine, which control everything in the body, will usually exit the spine right where the disc will tend to bulge.  The symptoms you experience will depend on which nerves are being affected by the herniated disc.

For example, if your herniated disc is in your low back, you will likely experience back pain, leg pain, leg weakness, numbness, burning, problems with your bowel and bladder, etc.

So, even though the problem is in the low back, you will have a number of other symptoms in other parts of the body, simply because the affected nerve travels and will cause problems wherever the nerve goes to.

So, what can you do about this problem?  Well, most doctors would recommend medications, pain injections (steroids and epidurals, which numb the problem area), physical therapy, and surgery (as a last resort).  Unfortunately, these treatments do not provide long term results in the majority of cases.

After helping thousands of people heal a herniated disc, I’ve discovered that there are about 30 treatments that will not only alleviate herniated disc pain, but will actually heal the disc, so you experience a longer-term result.

The 3 tips I’ll give you today are things you can do from the comfort of your home, and will cost little or no money.  

The first thing I would recommend you do is to use ice.  Now, I realize that this may seem pretty simple, but I can’t even tell you the number of times I’ve met people who are using heat to treat their herniated disc pain, which is one of the worst things you can do with this condition!

If you’ve used ice, and felt it didn’t help, I would recommend you read this section anyway, because I’ve found that if you don’t follow the rules I teach you, it won’t be as effective.  Many people find that they’ve actually been doing something wrong with the ice, which is why it wasn’t working previously.

The purpose of ice is to reduce swelling around the aggravated nerve, reduce inflammation, and numb the nerve so it feels better.  

The main reason you don’t want to use heat is because of inflammation – inflammation is the body’s way of healing something – it rushes a lot of blood to the injured area to start to fix the problem.  Well, blood is hot, so if you put heat on it, you will draw more blood to the area, which causes a lot of extra swelling, which puts more pressure on the aggravated nerve, which causes even more pain!

So, here is what you want to do with ice:  Use real ice or an ice pack (no frozen vegetables), apply it directly to the skin (do not put a towel or clothing between the skin and ice), leave it on for 15 minutes or until you feel numbness (whichever comes first), and repeat this every hour.

Consistency is key here!  You have to repeat the ice treatment every hour in order to see results.  You will typically start to notice a difference after 3 or 4 ice treatments, but it will usually take 3 full days of using ice to feel a big difference.

The second tip I have for you is to use a gel called Biofreeze.  Biofreeze is a prescription-strength pain-relieving gel that can be found online or in most chiropractic clinics.  Some physical therapy clinics also sell Biofreeze.

Biofreeze has an herbal remedy in it called Ilex, which reduces inflammation, swelling, and calms painful nerves.  It usually provides about 4 – 5 hours of relief, which is really good for a lot of people experiencing herniated disc pain!

Simply apply the gel on the skin over the injured disc, as well as wherever you are experiencing pain.

The third and final tip is to simply bounce on a therapy ball.  Therapy balls are those large balls you see at the health club or in physical therapy clinics – they are often used to strengthen the stomach muscles.

Well, I would recommend that you sit on one of these balls and simply bounce up and down (gently) for about 4 minutes every day.  What does this do?  Well, remember how I told you that the disc doesn’t receive much blood supply, and the nutrients and oxygen are stored in the jelly of the disc?

The only way you can get new nutrients and oxygen into the jelly of the disc is by physically pumping the disc.  Bouncing on the ball is a simple way to make this happen.  By doing this simple exercise, you will not only experience pain relief more quickly, your disc will also heal more quickly.

If you would like to learn more about the essential steps you need to take in order to heal your herniated disc, as well as the other treatments that have been found to be most effective in healing a herniated disc, please click here.

Did you find this article helpful? Here are some other related articles and resources you may also find useful:

• Here is a list of the best resources I've found for Bulging Disc / Herniated Disc relief
• Herniated Disc Causes
• Herniated Disc Exercises
• Herniated Disc in Back
• More Herniated Disc Resources