Herniated Disc Health Center
As a disc degenerates, the soft inner gel in the disc can leak back into the spinal canal. This is known as disc herniation, or herniated disc. Once inside the spinal canal, the herniated disc material then puts pressure on the nerve, causing pain to radiate down the nerve leading to sciatica or leg pain (from a herniated disc in the lumbar or lower back) or arm pain (from a herniated disc in the neck).
If a course of conservative treatments (generally four to six weeks) is not effective for relieving pain from a herniated disc, lumbar decompression surgery may be considered as an option. Often a microdiscectomy (or microdecompression) - a type of lumbar decompression surgery - is used to treat nerve compression from a herniated disc...
There are many different terms used to describe spinal disc pathology and associated pain, such as "herniated disc", "pinched nerve", and "bulging disc", and all are used differently by individual health care practitioners. Unfortunately, there is no agreement in the healthcare field as to the precise definition of any of these terms...
