A common cause of back pain can be lumbar disc herniations, it can be either pure back pain or it can be accompanied by sciatica, which is basically sciatic pain. This type of pain has two main elements, one mechanical and one chemical. The mechanical one is the fact that the hernia is crushing a structure, which in this case is the nerve root, and causing the pain. The other one is the chemical one, it is what the lesion or the herniated disc starts to secrete and those substances that it secretes start to irritate everything around it, which is usually the nerve root. To assess herniations we need two types of studies. One is X-rays, because X-rays, when we do see the bone and we do not see the herniation, we see other types of lesions that could hurt them. The other is magnetic resonance imaging where we see directly the discs, the roots, how free they are and how big the hernia or the disc lesion is. The great majority of herniated discs are treated conservatively, such as infiltration therapy, medications and spinal care, approximately 60 to 70 percent of herniated discs will not undergo surgery, but the others that behave badly and do not do well with conservative treatment or that meet certain criteria that make them surgical from the start, are the ones that we will operate on. If you have more questions about herniated discs I invite you to send us a message or call us to schedule your appointment.
