Neck Pain from a Herniated Disc

Neck pain from a herniated disc is typically blamed on herniations in the upper end of the spine. Cervical herniated discs can create severe pain and related symptoms, such as numbness, weakness and tingling in the neck, head, shoulders, arms, hands and fingers. These conditions can also come about from a variety of other causative conditions, which sometimes exist simultaneously with a coincidental herniated disc. This is why assumptive diagnosis of neck pain due to a herniated disc often turns out to be incorrect…

Neck Pain from a Herniated Disc Causes

A herniated disc in the neck can cause pain due to spinal stenosis, foraminal stenosis or chemical radiculitis. All these structural events are possible and might create actual anatomical reasons for painful symptoms to present themselves in the neck and upper limbs. However, most of the structural sources of pain generally respond well to appropriate treatment and should resolve in 2 to 8 weeks on average. Long term pain which endures for months, years or decades is very unlikely to be sourced from a herniated or ruptured disc.

Chronic disc pain often turns out to come from a different actual source than the presumed culprit disc. Thoracic outlet syndrome is a possibility for muscular interaction or anatomical ischemia conditions affecting the brachial plexus, while psychosomatic disc pain due to subconsciously enacted ischemia is the most logical and consistent source of long term upper back, neck and arm pain syndromes.

Neck Pain from a Herniated Disc / Treatments

Conservative modalities will help to resolve most structural sources of disc pain. For patients who do not respond well to popular methods, such as physical therapy, exercise and chiropractic, more drastic means of therapy might be needed. Non-surgical spinal decompression is a good choice for many verified anatomical disc conditions. It is noninvasive and highly effective for permanently ending disc pain. Herniated disc surgery should be avoided in all but the most dire of cervical pain conditions. Surgery can often do far more damage than good and might create permanent functional limitations in many patients. I generally recommend that virtually every patient with long term neck pain at least attempt the most basic forms of knowledge therapy before escalating treatment to a surgical level. There is nothing to lose and many patients find a complete cure without the risks and traumas of surgical intervention.

Neck Pain from a Herniated Disc Advice

Many patients assume that just because there is a herniated disc in their neck, symptoms must be a direct result of the spinal abnormality. This is just not the case… Many herniations are completely asymptomatic and do not cause any pain or problems at all. Many exist for years and are never discovered, since they do not demonstrate any symptomatic expression.

Remember that most chronic pain, regardless of where in the body it is experienced, is a result of a psychological process, not a structural abnormality. Your local doctor is not likely to suggest this possibility, since they are not trained or prepared to deal with mind/body disorders. This is why independent research about herniated discs is so crucial for every patient. Take a lead role in your own care and do not allow yourself to be misled into treatment for a herniated disc, when all the while that spinal condition has caused you no pain and no disability. Instead, consider all possible sources of pain and do not forget to include the very real chance that the pain may be emotionally motivated…

Neck Pain from a Herniated Disc to Home
12/1/09