By Curt_Anderson August 1, 2022 11:44 am Category: Health (0.0 from 0 votes) Rules of the Post Write A New Article How To Post Here Rate this article (5=best, 0=poor)

Once when running with my friends which includes a primary care physician, a sports medicine doctor and physical therapist, I mentioned I had some lower back pain and asked if it could be something serious like a compressed disc. One of the doctors said, "I guarantee that we all have had, do have or will have a compressed disc". Multiple online sources report that compressed or herniated discs are "very common" for people over the age of 40, with men having a higher prevalence than women.

Btw, that conversation was before I fell from a ladder and fractured my fourth lumbar disc. I am fully recovered and I don't suffer any back pain or have back issues.

A herniated disk is also known as a slipped, ruptured or bulging disk. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it’s one of the most common causes of neck, back and leg pain. Most of the time, herniated disks heal on their own or with simple home-care measures. Herniated disks get better on their own over time or with nonsurgical treatment for 9 out of 10 people.

If you had a herniated disc and you lived in the UK you would be advised to exercise and take NSAIDs (ibuproen). Before you could see a NHS doctor, you'd have to be incontinent, unable to urinate/defecate and/or have a loss of feelings in your lower extremities.

Cited and related links:

1. my.clevelandclinic.org
2. nhs.uk

Comments Start Below

by Donna on August 1, 2022 12:08 pm I'm glad your recovery has been going well, Curt. Sheri's diagnosis was "compressed disc" at L3. She tried all kinds of Rx pain killers, muscle relaxers, etc., but she's had the best response from ibuprofen. The only treatment they recommended was physical therapy, but we can't afford it. It's day to day with her. Some days are worse than others. Today she decided to try her velcro back support again, and it gave her instant relief today. I have a back condition too, but it involves the tendons at the base of my back and my right hip. They took x-rays last year and didn't find any spinal abnormalities. it's feeling a bit tight today, but usually I have little or no pain (knock on wood). One thing that seems to have helped my back is losing weight. After I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 4 months ago, I immediately cut out about 95% of my carb intake, which caused me lose 18 pounds in 12 weeks. That also lowered my A1C level by 0.5; I went from 6.7 to 6.2, which put me back in the pre-diabetic range. My primary care nurse told me that if I can get my A1C down to 5.6, I'll be back in the normal range, which is what I'm shooting for. by Curt_Anderson on August 1, 2022 12:19 pm Donna, The Cleveland Clinic link I posted has good info on causes and relief for herniated discs and back pain including do's and don't's. Losing weight is of course of one of them. One of doctor pals has one of those Teeter Hang Ups inversion tables. He's 17 years younger than me but has much more frequent back problems than I do. (If you can select your parents and your genetics, do so) The concept of hanging upside down makes sense to me although I haven't read of any data on the subject. by Donna on August 1, 2022 12:27 pm Thanks for the info. I alerted Sheri. Sheri's talked about wanting to try out an inversion table. I just brought it up to her again. There's a nice one on Amazon for $120. She said she'll consider it. I've always been all for it. Go To Top

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