Symptoms of Herniated Disc

The symptoms of a herniated disc will vary depending on where the disc is located. The symptoms can be quite severe and long-lasting, which leads to quite a bit of frustration for the person living with this condition.

It’s also very common for the symptoms of a herniated disc to develop in other parts of the body because of the pressure on the nerves that occurs with a herniated disc.

If you look at the spine closely, what you’ll see is that there is a spinal disc between each set of bones in the back, and directly behind each disc is where a spinal nerve will exit the spine to communicate with the body.

The nerves control everything that occurs within the body, and the way they do this is by traveling throughout the body and communicating messages from the brain to tell the body what to do.

When a disc herniates, it will bulge against these nerves, and anything that nerve controls will begin to develop problems. So, you will tend to experience symptoms wherever these nerves are traveling to.

With this in mind, let’s now discuss the most common symptoms associated with a herniated disc based on where the injured disc is located.

The symptoms of a herniated disc in the neck (cervical spine) would include neck pain, headaches, pain and/or numbness traveling into the arms and hands, weakness in the arms and hands, chest pains, vision problems, ringing in the ears and hearing problems, and even a feeling that there’s a knot in the throat.

As you can see, the symptoms are far more extensive than just neck pain, all because of what the nerves of the neck control.

In the middle back, or thoracic spine, the symptoms of a herniated disc includes mid-back pain (pain between the shoulder blades), pain and/or numbness radiating around the rib cage, chest pains, heart palpitations (a feeling that your heart is beating powerfully and fast within your chest), difficulty breathing, neck pain, headaches, and even shooting pains into the back of the skull.

In the lower back, or lumbar spine, the symptoms will include low back pain, traveling pain into the hips, buttocks, and legs (sciatica), weakness in the legs, numbness in the feet, losing the ability to control your bowel and bladder, problems with digestion, excessive gas, as well as malfunctioning of the sexual organs.

Every individual may experience any combination of these symptoms depending on which nerves are involved.

So, the question becomes, what can you do about these symptoms? Most physicians will recommend a similar set of treatments for the symptoms of a herniated disc, including medications (usually a combination of a muscle relaxer and pain reliever), pain injections (such as cortisone and epidurals), physical therapy, and even surgery in the worst cases.

Unfortunately, the results of these treatments can be somewhat disappointing – although they may provide temporary relief, the pain will almost always return after a period of time.

The reason for this is because the focus of these treatments is primarily on the aggravated nerve, which makes sense at first because this is what causes the pain, but if you never heal the disc problem itself, the pain will return.

There are also other treatments available, especially within the realm of alternative healthcare. Chiropractic, massage, and acupuncture are commonly used for this condition, to name a few of the alternatives available.

In reality, I’ve found that it’s actually a combination of treatments that provides the best results with a herniated disc.

If you would like more information about symptoms of a herniated disc, as well as the important steps you can take for relief and healing, you can click this link (symptoms of herniated disc).

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

Cervical Disc Herniation

Herniated Disc Causes

What is a Herniated Disc?

More Herniated Disc Resources