Do Herniated Discs Heal ?Do herniated discs heal? This is a question asked by many patients who are experiencing the frightening pain and related symptoms often blamed on a bulging intervertebral disc. Patients diagnosed with a herniated disc suffer immediate concern for their health and typically want to know the prognosis for their future.
Herniated discs often do not need to “heal” at all. That is because most herniated discs are not painful or problematic in any way. They merely exist. In fact, herniated discs are a common side effect of normal spinal aging. Disc herniations which occur due to traumatic injury might be painful and produce widespread
symptoms.
However, even these agonizing concerns usually resolve in about 6 to 8 weeks, with or without treatment. While it is unlikely that a disc will ever go back to a pre-herniated state, it will typically stabilize and not cause any further pain or future health concerns.
The medical industry has maligned the poor
spinal disc,
giving it a reputation as a troublesome structure responsible for causing chronic back pain.
Research
has shown conclusively that bulging discs rarely cause problems, although they are
diagnosed
as the source of pain in many patients. Herniated discs are implicated in creating pain in many
foraminal stenosis,
pinched nerve,
sciatica
and
spinal stenosis
conditions. These diagnoses are often incorrect and lead the patient on a fool’s errand through the back pain treatment system. It is no wonder that many patients never find a real cure for their
herniated disc pain.
After all, the disc is NOT responsible for the pain at all. The condition has simply been
misdiagnosed
and every treatment option was directed at a mistakenly identified causation. No wonder all the therapies failed!!!
Do Herniated Discs Heal? / The Bottom LineSo, to answer this complicated question… YES and NO.* YES, physical injuries will generally stop producing pain, although NO, the disc is unlikely to return to its exact pre-injury state. * NO, a degenerated disc will not heal, but it is also extremely unlikely to ever cause significant pain. * NO, healing of the structural condition will not always relieve the pain, if the condition is misdiagnosed. * YES, the patients will continue to suffer even after the disc has been treated with indicated medical treatment or even surgery, if the condition has been misdiagnosed. The bottom line is simple… Most disc herniations are little more than scapegoats on which to blame chronic pain. Sure, some fresh injuries might hurt for a short time frame. However, these will heal and the pain should stop. If not, then there is a good chance that the pain is not due to the herniated disc at all. It is most likely another example of ischemic pain, which has become an epidemic in our healthcare system. For this type of pain, knowledge therapy is the only cure which has any hope of actually allowing the mind and body to “heal”. Do Herniated Discs Heal to Herniated Disc 1/13/09 Revised 7/16/11 |
Sensei Adam Rostocki
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