Treatments For Herniated Discs - Helpful Tips For Fast Relief

Back disc treatment can be pretty discouraging, because most of the treatments available through typical medical methods only provide temporary relief, if that. This article will discuss the most common treatments available for a herniated disc, as well as 3 simple tips you can do from home for relief.

But before we get into that, we need to talk about what a spinal disc is, as well as what a herniated disc is, so you understand why the tips I will make in this article will help with relief.

The discs of the spine are cushions that are located between each set of vertebrae in the back. Their main function is to absorb shock, which protects the vertebrae from too much force, which could cause quite a bit of pain.

Each spinal disc is made up of two main parts – a strong outer covering called the annulus, and a soft jelly center called the nucleus. The jelly in the center is really important, because this is where the disc keeps nutrition and oxygen in order for the disc to stay healthy, and heal if a problem ever develops.

One of the things that complicates any disc condition is the fact that the spinal discs do not have a very good blood supply. Normally, the body utilizes blood to transport nutrients and oxygen to injured areas of the body, so they can heal more quickly. One of the tips I give you later in this article will help bring new nutrients and oxygen to the jelly of the disc for faster healing.

In the case of a herniated disc, the outer covering tears, and the jelly in the center begins to move into the area of the injury. This causes the disc to bulge against the spinal nerves, which causes quite a bit of pain. In addition to this, because the nerves are agravated, this condition can also cause quite a bit of disability, simply because the spinal nerves control everything in the body.

In fact, one of the things you may not know about a spinal disc is that they can not feel pain, which sounds odd at first, but if you think about it, it makes sense considering the fact that they’re absorbing shock all the time.

So, it’s important to understand that all of the pain is actually coming from the pressure on the nerve. This is truly the reason that most treatments for herniated discs are not successful for the long term – they are all primarily designed to address the painful nerve, which sounds good at first, but they do not really get to the cause of the problem, which is the herniated disc.

For example, most physicians will start by prescribing muscle relaxers and pain relieving medications, which are only successful about 30% of the time. The reason for this is because they numb the nerve, but don’t do anything for the disc bulging.

Physical therapy is also typically prescribed, and although I’m a fan of physical therapy, with this condition, it often doesn’t lead to a long term result. The same is true for pain injections (such as cortisone and epidurals), which usually lead to relief about 50% of the time, but the pain inevitably returns.

Surgery has the lowest success rate of all (16% according to the medical journal Spine), which is why most physicians will do everything else before recommending surgery. Not only that, surgery is also temporary, and the pain usually re-occurs within 5 years after having the surgery if you’re lucky enough to experience relief to start with.

This is why many have a difficult time finding a back disc treatment that will provide lasting relief. The good news is that there are actually a number of treatment options for a bulging disc that are effective, and truthfully, it usually takes a combination of specific treatments to accomplish the end result you are looking for.

In this article, I’m going to give you 3 simple treatment options for a bulging disc that can be done from home, but understand this is only part of the solution – I’ll give you a helpful resource at the end of the article if you’d like to learn more. Each back disc treatment that I’m about to tell you about needs to be followed as I outline for best results.

The first recommendation I’ll share with you is to use ice. Most people want to use heat with this condition, which is truly the worst thing you can do. Heat will aggravate the nerve more, and cause excessive swelling in the injured area, which also causes more pain.

Ice will numb the aggravated nerve, and slow the inflammatory process, which will provide faster relief. In order to see the fastest results with ice, you should use real ice rather than a substitute (such as frozen vegetables), and you should place the ice directly on the skin over the painful area.

Leave the ice on for 15 minutes maximum, or until you feel numbness, whichever comes first. Then, repeat the ice treatment every hour – it will require 3 to 4 treatments before you experience any relief, and it usually takes about 3 days to experience a noticeable difference in your pain level.

The next back disc treatment I will share with you is actually an easy exercise using a therapy ball. A therapy ball is one of those large balls you see in health clubs or physical therapy offices. People usually use them for abdominal exercises, but, the exercise I will recommend for you is actually very simple.

Simply sit on the ball and gently bounce up and down for 5 minutes every day. Remember how we were discussing earlier how the jelly in the disc is where the nutrients and oxygen are kept for healing? This exercise will pump each spinal disc, which pumps new nutrients and oxygen into the disc for faster healing.

The final treatment options for a bulging disc I will share today is another exercise using a mini-trampoline. You can find a small trampoline (usually about 4 feet wide) at most sports stores, and you simply want to stand in the center of the trampoline and march in place for 5 minutes each day.

Don’t jump when doing this exercise – marching will force the body to re-balance the muscles in the entire spine, which removes a lot of pressure off the damaged disc. This exercise will go a long way for not only alleviating the pain, but also for healing the herniated disc.

If you would like to learn more about the most effective treatment options for a bulging disc, as well as the combination of those treatments that I recommend for the best results, you can click here (treatment for a bulging disc) to get all the details.

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
• Back Disc Treatment - The Top 3 Treatments You Can Do From Home For Relief
• Back Disc Treatments – Home Care Tips For Fast Relief
• Bulging Disc Treatment – Helpful Hints For Fast Relief
• More Herniated Disc Resources