What Is A Slipped Disc? Symptoms, Causes And Treatment

What is a Slipped Disc?

What is a slipped disc: To support the bones present in the spine of our body, called vertebrae, are two small padded discs that help protect the spinal cord from injury due to shock. Apart from this, with the help of these discs, our spinal cord remains flexible. However, if one or both discs are damaged due to some cause or injury, they may open up causing inflammation or rupture, which is called a slip disc.

One thing to keep in mind is that just because of the name of slip discs it does not mean that these discs slip from their place in the spinal cord. Rather, it means that these discs are elongated or swollen beyond their normal limits, or that the outer wall of these discs has some kind of crack or hole, due to which the fluid in it is called the nucleus pulposus.

Yes, it starts leaking. Which can affect the spinal cord or its nearest nerve. This can lead to weakness in one arm or leg. Or the condition can affect both hands and feet.

A slip disc can occur in any part of the spine, but its most common problem affects the lower back. Its problem can usually affect more people with increasing age, especially between 35 and 50 years of age.

But due to changing lifestyles, its problem can be seen in young people also. Apart from this, the risk of slip disc can be almost twice in men compared to women. Also, the problem of being overweight can also increase its risk manifold. Because the extra body weight can cause more pressure on the discs in the lower part of the body.

What is a slipped disc and Types of Slip Disc

There are three main types of slip discs, which include:

1. Cervical slip disc 

The problem of cervical disc slip occurs in the neck. Due to which there can be pain in the back of the head, neck, shoulder bone, arm and hand.

2. Thoracic slip disc 

The problem of thoracic disc slip occurs in the middle part of the spine. This can cause pain in the middle of the back and shoulders, and sometimes pain in the neck, hands, fingers, feet, hips and toes. However, the chances of this happening are considered very rare.

3. Lumbar slip disc 

The problem of lumbar disc slip occurs in the lower part of the spine. Due to which there may be a problem of pain in the lower back, hip, thigh, genital areas, feet and toes.

What is a Slipped disc and Stages of a slip disc

There are three main stages of a slip disc, which include:

Stage 1: Due to aging, there may be a problem of dehydration in the disc, which reduces its flexibility and it can become weak.

Stage 2: Due to aging, the fibrous layers of the disc begin to crack, due to which the fluid inside it can start coming out.

Stage 3: On reaching this stage, a part of the nucleus may break.

Stage 4: In the last stage, the fluid inside the disc starts coming out of the nucleus pulpous disc and leaking into the spinal cord.

What are the symptoms of a slip disc?

Symptoms of a slip disc may include:

• pain in one or both sides of the body
• weakness in one or both parts of the body
• pain in one arm or leg or both
• worse pain after standing or sitting
• lower body pain when walking
• tingling or burning in the affected area
• muscle weakness
• The symptoms of its pain can be different in every person. If you have any doubts about its symptoms, please consult your doctor about this.

What can cause a slip disc?

A slip disc can be caused by:

1. Growing old

With increasing age, the spinal cord also starts to weaken, which can increase the pressure on these discs. Along with this, the bones of the disc are also affected due to aging, which can increase the risk of breaking, changing shape and cracking in them.

2. Disc injury

Falling, pushing, lifting a heavy object, doing any kind of exercise or doing any physical activity suddenly can put more pressure on the disc, which can lead to the problem of slip disc.

What is a slipped disc and Diagnosis of Slip disc?

How to detect slip discs?

To diagnose a slip disc problem, the doctor may ask themselves about your symptoms and health condition. Based on which they may recommend you to have the following tests, which may include:

1. Physical test

During the physical examination, the doctor may assess your physical condition during your normal walking, running, physical activities.

2. X-ray

Your doctor may recommend an X-ray to check if an injury is causing your pain.

3. CT scan

Through CT scan, it can be checked whether there has been any injury in your district or if there has been any change in its shape or direction.

4. MRI test

With the help of an MRI test, it can be found out whether there has been any change in the location of your discs and how it is affecting the nervous system.

5. Myelogram

During a myelogram test, a type of dye is injected into the spinal cord as a fluid. After which an X-ray of the spinal cord is done. With this it can be checked what kind of pressure is being put on the spinal cord or nerves.

How can a slip disc be prevented?

To prevent and reduce the risk of slip disc, you can take care of the following things:

• Control the increasing weight, so that the pressure on the lower back is reduced
• exercise regularly
• If smoking is a habit, consider options to get rid of it
• Avoid lifting heavy objects
• don't suddenly bow down
• Adopt the correct position for sitting and standing
• If you need to sit in the chair for a long time, use a pillow or a padded object behind your back and the seat of the chair.
• Keep the back in the correct position while sleeping.
• If you have a habit of sleeping on your side, place a pillow between your knees while sleeping.
• Choose the right mattress and bedding for sleeping.

What to eat to prevent slip disc problems?

To reduce the risk of slip disc problem, you can include the following foods in your diet:

• vitamin C
• vitamin D
• Vitamin E
• glucosamine
• chondroitin
• calcium
• green vegetables
• seasonal fruit
• lean protein

How is a slip disc treated?

You can use the following methods to treat a slip disc:

1. Do proper exercise

You can do proper exercises on the advice of your doctor to reduce the pain of slip disc, strengthen the back and surrounding muscles.

2. Taking painkillers

On the advice of your doctor, you can also take painkillers available at the medical store. In addition, your doctor may also recommend the following medicines:-

• Gabapentin
• Duloxetine

3. Surgery

Your doctor may also recommend surgery if your problem persists after these methods and treatments. For which they can undergo microdiscectomy surgery. In this surgery, the surgeon removes only the damaged part of the disc or may insert an artificial disc.

If you have any kind of question related to this, then you can consult your doctor for more information about it.

Slip Disc Treatment in Jaipur

Here we have shared all the details of Slip disc, causes symptoms and its treatment. It is important for a person to get in touch with the best doctor in town. If you are looking for the best doctor for slip disc treatment in jaipur, then Contact Dr. Himanshu Gupta. He is the best doctor, having 11+ years of experience in performing the surgery.

When you approach him for disc replacement surgery in Jaipur, he will help you to know about all the things so that there will be no problems at all.