When do you need surgery for a Herniated Disc?

Disks are soft cushions between the bones in your spine. They help you move and bend without your bones rubbing together. Sometimes, a disk can bulge out and press on nearby nerves and that can cause pain, numbness, or weakness in your back, legs, or arms.

Physical therapy and medication can often help to get relief from pain. But if your symptoms don’t get better after a few months, surgery might be needed. Surgery can help ease your pain faster. 

However, 80 to 90% of patients don’t require herniated disc surgery. So, let’s see who needs surgery for, the causes of and symptoms of Herniated Disc.

Cause of Herniated Disc?

To understand the treatment of Herniated Disc or Slipped Disc, it is important to be aware of the cause. It helps you to know why it happens. As we get older, the discs in our spine lose water and become less flexible. It makes them more likely to wear out. The trouble starts when one of these discs moves and puts pressure on a nearby nerve. 

This can cause pain, numbness, tingling feelings, and sometimes weakness. Imagine the soft inside of a disc poking out through a hole in its tough outer layer. This can occur because of getting older or from an injury. However, slipped discs can happen in any age group of people(early adulthood 21 to 39) and (middle age group  40 to 60). 

If you belong to Howrah, and have a sudden medical emergency, you can come to ILS Hospital. It is a 24×7 emergency hospital in Howrah.

Symptoms of Herniated Disc

How do you understand that you have a Slipped Disc? – there are several symptoms that indicate you have a Herniated Disc. Here are some signs:

1. A deep ache in your neck.
2. Feeling numb or tingling in your arms, fingers, buttocks, legs, or feet.
3. Pain when you move your neck suddenly or jerk it.
4. Pain that gets worse when you move.
5. Feeling pain that spreads when you look up and away.
6. Feeling better when you rest.
7. Having trouble holding or lifting things because your muscles are weak.

If you think you have a herniated disc, and are looking for robotic treatment in Kolkata, ILS Hospitals provides robotic surgery in Salt Lake.  Your doctor will check you out thoroughly. They might ask about your medical history and do a physical exam. They might also recommend tests like EMG, CT, or MRI scans to see where and how bad the damage is.

Why Surgery is Not only a Treatment Option

Most of the time, surgery isn’t necessary to fix a herniated disc. Over 90% of people with this issue get better with treatments that aren’t surgery, like using ice or heat, changing how they move, taking pain-relief pills, doing certain exercises, or getting physical therapy. Sometimes, if these treatments don’t help, surgery might be needed to fix the disc or stop it from pressing on nerves. But for most people, surgery is the last thing they try to stop the pain.

When You Need Surgery?

Herniated Disc surgery can be happened If you feel:

1. You hurt so much you can’t move or do your usual stuff.
2. Your body feels numb or weak because of the disk pressing on nerves.
3. You can’t hold your pee or poop.
4. You find it hard to stand or walk.
5. Then, surgery for a herniated disk might be thought about.

Types  of  Herniated Disc Surgery?

Surgery can help ease the pressure on your nerves caused by a herniated disk. There are a few types of surgeries:

1. Diskectomy:

During this surgery, the doctor takes out the bad disk in your back or neck to help your nerves feel better. There are two main ways they can do this:

Open discectomy: The doctor makes a big cut in your back or neck.

Microdiscectomy: The doctor makes a smaller cut and uses a tiny tube with a camera to see and take out the bad disk.

2. Lumbar laminotomy:

Sometimes, a small piece of bone called the lamina needs to be removed to reach the herniated disk. This can relieve nerve pressure and stop leg pain.

Spinal fusion: After removing the disk or part of the lamina, the surgeon may use two vertebrae together to stabilize the spine and prevent further pain.

3. Artificial disk surgery:

Only a few patients can have artificial disk surgery because it only helps a few disks in your lower back. But if your doctor says it could help, they’ll swap out your bad disk with one made of plastic or metal. This new disk will make your spine stronger and let you move better.

Risk Factors are Rare

Herniated disk surgery is usually safe, but there are some rare risks, like

1. Infection,
2.Nerve or blood vessel damage,
3.Problems with the new disk,
4.Spinal cord fluid leaks,
5. And bleeding.

Sometimes surgery might not make your symptoms better, or your pain could come back later.

Most people feel better after herniated disk surgery, but it doesn’t help everyone. In a few cases, around 5%, the disk might herniate again.

Even though surgery can help quickly, it might not always be the best choice. It’s important to talk with your doctor about the risks and benefits before deciding on treatment.

Final Words

Sometimes surgery might not make your symptoms better, or your pain could come back later on. Most people feel better after surgery for a herniated disk, but it doesn’t help everyone. In a few cases, the disk can herniate again, about 5% of the time.

Herniated disk surgery can make you feel better quicker than other treatments, but it might not be the best choice for everyone. It depends on the individual patients. It’s important to talk with your doctor at  ILS, a multi speciality hospital in Kolkata. Visit our hospital and book your doctor appointment now.