Did You Know That the Most Common Condition After a Cold in People Is a Herniated Disc?

A Herniated Disc May Not Be the Only Cause of Back Pain!

Most patients who complain of back pain improve substantially after the first week, and more than 90% after the first month. In less than 10%, complaints may last longer than six months and may be a sign of serious disease. One of the causes of back pain is a herniated disc. Although people in general tend to think that back pain is always a sign of a herniated disc, in fact a herniated disc is only one of many causes across a very wide spectrum. Back pain may point to a simple muscle spasm, mechanical back pain, osteoarthritis and spondylosis (degenerative changes of the spine), a herniated disc, inflammatory-infectious diseases of the spine, abscesses, bone diseases and fractures, metabolic-hormonal diseases, rheumatic diseases, internal organ diseases, large vessel diseases (aortic aneurysm, vascular occlusions, …), various tumors and many other diseases. Therefore, a detailed interview with the patient about the characteristics and course of the disease, a comprehensive systemic and neurological examination, and basic and advanced tests and imaging are essential in order to differentiate between the possible diseases.

Pay Attention to the Risk Factors for Back Pain!

If you have physically demanding work or do heavy labor,

If you sit for long periods,

If you lead a sedentary lifestyle,

If your back and abdominal muscles are weak,

If you use your spine incorrectly,

If you have structural or shape disorders of your spine,

If you are overweight,

If you smoke,

If you are under stress or suffering from depression, you are at risk. However, the main factor in a herniated disc is trauma, which takes the form of either a single but major trauma or continuously repeated micro-traumas. The most common presentation in herniated disc patients is back pain following excessive physical strain, and one-sided leg pain that begins at the same time as, or most often in the days following, the back pain.

Patients develop their own specific clinical pictures depending on the location of the herniated disc, the type, degree, cause and duration of the herniation, accompanying spinal disorders and degeneration, the patient’s body structure, whether they did sports beforehand, their psychological state, and the way they perceive, interpret and express the disease. In the clinical picture, back and leg pain are usually in the foreground; however, as nerve tissue becomes affected, neurological dysfunctions may also develop, such as loss of strength, sensory deficits, increased pain after walking for a certain period of time with inability to continue activity, and urinary and bowel control disorders. Therefore, a complete diagnosis must be made taking all variables into account, the requirement that the clinical diagnosis be consistent with laboratory and imaging findings must always be observed, and a treatment plan specific to the individual must be designed.

Get Back to Health with a Correct Diagnosis and Timely Intervention!

The essence of treatment is reducing the load on the spine and disc, removing pressure on nerve tissue, and strengthening the body’s own self-repair mechanisms. When surgical treatment is applied according to certain conditions and algorithms, the success rate of surgery for a herniated disc is very high (95-98%). For this:

The decision for surgical treatment is made correctly (approximately 3% of all patients with back pain require surgery),

Surgical planning (operation design) is done correctly (because each patient’s needs are not the same, patient-specific surgical planning is essential),

The properly planned operation is performed in a good center, under optimal conditions, with a good surgical technique,

Patient education, so that after surgery the patient learns and applies correct use of the spine, and exercise and physiotherapy when necessary, form the steps of a successful treatment.

The gold standard operation applied in the surgical treatment of a herniated disc is the “Microdiscectomy” operation. Using this method, with the aid of a surgical microscope, the surgical procedure can be performed with very good visualization and high precision, the risk of damage to nerve tissue is reduced, and at the same time the surgical scar and the impact on normal tissues are kept to a minimum.