Lumbar disk disease can cause back and leg pain that interferes with daily activities. It can lead to leg weakness or numbness and trouble with bowel and bladder control. Maintaining a healthy weight, participating in regular exercise, and using good posture can lessen your risk for lumbar disk disease. Conservative therapy requires patience; but sticking with your treatment plan can reduce back pain and minimize the chance of worsening pain or damage to the disk.
Conservative measures and surgery can both take time to be effective. Call your healthcare provider if your pain increases or if you start having trouble with bowel or bladder control. Lumbar disk disease may occur when a disc in the low back area of the spine bulges or herniates from between the bony area of the spine.
Lumbar disk disease causes lower back pain and leg pain and weakness that is made worse by movement and activity. The first step in treatment is to reduce pain and reduce the risk of further injury to the spine. Health Home Conditions and Diseases. The spine is divided into 4 areas: Cervical spine: The first 7 vertebrae, located in the neck Thoracic spine: The next 12 vertebrae, located in the chest area Lumbar spine: The next 5 vertebrae, located in the lower back Sacral spine: The lowest 5 vertebrae, located below the waist, also includes the 4 vertebrae that make up the tailbone coccyx The lumbar spine consists of 5 bony segments in the lower back area, which is where lumbar disk disease occurs.
What causes lumbar disk disease? What are the risks for lumbar disk disease? What are the symptoms of lumbar disk disease? These are the most common symptoms of lumbar disk disease: Intermittent or continuous back pain. This may be made worse by movement, coughing, sneezing, or standing for long periods of time Spasm of the back muscles Sciatica — pain that starts near the back or buttock and travels down the leg to the calf or into the foot Muscle weakness in the legs Numbness in the leg or foot Decreased reflexes at the knee or ankle Changes in bladder or bowel function The symptoms of lumbar disc disease may look like other conditions or medical problems.
How is lumbar disk disease diagnosed? In addition to a complete medical history and physical exam, you may have one or more of the following tests: X-ray. How is lumbar disk disease treated? This may include a mix of the following: Bed rest Education on proper body mechanics to help decrease the chance of worsening pain or damage to the disk Physical therapy, which may include ultrasound, massage, conditioning, and exercise programs Weight control Use of a lumbosacral back support Medicine to control pain and relax muscles If these measures fail, you may need surgery to remove the herniated disc.
What are the complications of lumbar disk disease? Can lumbar disk disease be prevented? Living with lumbar disk disease Conservative therapy requires patience; but sticking with your treatment plan can reduce back pain and minimize the chance of worsening pain or damage to the disk.
When should I call my healthcare provider? Key points about lumbar disk disease Lumbar disk disease may occur when a disc in the low back area of the spine bulges or herniates from between the bony area of the spine.
However, the magnitude of the pressure in patients with neurologic deficits and trunk list was significantly higher than in the absence of these findings. Conclusions: The contact pressure exerted by lumbar disc herniation on the nerve roots was recorded during surgical intervention, and the mean pressure was 53 mm Hg. The magnitude of nerve root pressure was not correlated with the degree of straight leg raising, but with the severity of neurologic deficits.
Abstract Study design: The contact pressure between the nerve root and lumbar disc herniation was measured and compared with clinical features. These nerves are called nerve roots, or radicular nerves. They branch out at each level of the spine and innervate different parts of our body. Nerve roots branch directly from the spinal cord and merge to form the spinal nerve as it runs through an opening between adjacent vertebrae, called the intervertebral foramen.
For example, nerves that exit the cervical spine travel down through the arms, hands, and fingers. See Cervical Radiculopathy Symptoms. As mentioned earlier, there is no spinal cord in the lumbar spine. Because of this, and because the spinal canal is usually fairly spacious in the low back, problems in the lumbosacral region the lumbar spine and sacral region of the spine usually cause nerve root problems, not spinal cord injury.
Even serious conditions such as a large disc herniation or fracture in the low back are less likely to cause permanent loss of motor function in the legs paraplegia, or paralysis. The nerve roots are named for the level of the spine at which they exit. However, nerve roots are not labeled consistently throughout the length of the spine. In the cervical spine , the nerve root is named according to the LOWER spinal segment that the nerve root runs between.
For example, the nerve at the C5-C6 level is called the C6 nerve root. It is named this way because as it exits the spine the nerve root passes OVER the C6 pedicle a piece of bone that is part of the spinal segment.
See more about Cervical Radiculopathy. In the lumbar spine , the nerve roots are named according to the UPPER segment that the nerve runs between. For example, the nerve root at the L4-L5 level is called the L4 nerve root. See more about Lumbar Radiculopathy.
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