

You have to fit the requirements from the physical examination and medical history.Īnd we need to have a serious conversation about how bad the pain is bothering “You have to have had the pain for at least six weeks. “I always tell people that there are three prerequisites for Surgery is an option for some people who fit the criteria Medication (anti-inflammatory medicine or muscle relaxers can help the nerve calm down).Pelle says there are some treatment options that can be Time also depends on what recovery looks like for you and what type of The biggest factor in healing a herniated disk is time,īecause most often it will resolve on its own. Weeks, but it can get better within a few days depending on how severe the “That’s usually called myelopathy and has to do with loss of sensation or control in certain areas of the body.”Īdvertising Policy How long does it take for a herniated disk to heal?Īverage amount of time it takes for a herniated disk to heal is four to six

“Pressure on your spinal cord is a bit more serious when you start to have symptoms from it,” explains Dr.

It all depends on the level of the herniated disk and what nerve is getting pinched. Spine, it might cause arm pain or weakness that shoots down your shoulder or If your herniated disk is pinching a nerve in your cervical If you have a herniated disk in your lumbar spine, the pain might come down your leg, down your butt, over the hip and down the leg, says Dr. Depending on what nerve is pinched, it can cause pain in a variety of places. A pinched nerve is called radiculopathy and typically causes shooting pain, numbness or weakness. People experience symptoms of a disk herniation when it presses on a nerve or the spinal cord. Certain activities like lifting weights or playing a sport might also cause a herniation. Or what caused it because the pain usually happens right away.”Ī herniated disk could also be caused by disk degeneration, genetics or a combination. “Most often people will know exactly when it happened Other times it’s something as simple as bending down to tie a shoe when it “Some people get in an accident and have a herniated disk afterwards, Push through the annulus fibrosis – just like the inside of a jelly donut would Injury, pressure, age or just plain bad luck can cause the nucleus pulposus to Nerve, that’s when you experience the pain from a herniated disk.Īdvertising Policy Causes of a herniated disk The nucleus pulposus pushes outside of the annulus fibrosis and touches a Is going to squirt out of it – just like the nucleus pulposus would from your Imagine that the donut has a hole somewhere in it and you press down. The inside of the disk is the jelly in the donut, which “The outside of the disk is like the dough of the donut and is called You have a herniated disk, think about it as a jelly donut,” explains Dr. The disks help hold your spine up and allows it to bend and move. The disks all the way up and down your spine act as shock absorbers to your movement. You have 24 disks in your spine – ranging from the very top (called the cervical spine) down to the lower spin (called the lumbar spine). (Yes we know it’s weird, but bear with us.) Of the simplest ways to understand a herniated disk is to think about a jellyĭonut. You think it might be a herniated disk, but what exactly does that mean? Spine surgeon Dominic Pelle, MD, explains what’s happening to your spine. Minute a shooting, irritating pain is plaguing your neck or back. Minute you’re completely fine, bending down to pick something up. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center.
