A herniated disc is a medical condition that primarily involves the spine. It is characterized by a tear in the outer fibrous ring of an intervertebral disc, causing the central portion of the spine to bulge out. In general, symptoms of this condition may vary from one person to another, depending on where the herniated disc is.
Leg pain is a more typical complaint of people with herniated disc rather than lower back pain. Aside from the location of the herniated disc, the types of soft tissues affected by it also determine the symptoms that manifest in people with this condition.
If the disc is the only injured tissue, the patient may fail to experience any type of pain, or there may be some faint pain in the affected area. Otherwise, if several tissues are affected by the herniated disc, severe pain may be felt that may even radiate from the neck to shoulders and arms or from the lower back to the legs. Pain from a herniated disc is not pulsating, but continuous.
However, an individual may not feel any symptoms, especially if the extruding nucleus pulposus material is not pressing on any tissues and nerves. It is estimated that half of the number of people with focal herniated disc occurring in their cervical region did not feel any symptoms of their condition.
If there are any symptoms, they are commonly felt on only one side of the body. At times, large sized prolapse press on the cauda equina found in the lumbar region or on the spinal column in general. If such is the case, both sides of the body may be affected by the symptoms and serious consequences may follow.
If you are feeling any of these symptoms, it is best to consult your condition with a doctor. There are also many cases in which the patient is totally unaware of any sickness but discovers the presence of a herniated disc when undergoing routine imaging tests, like an MRI. Other less serious conditions, like a bulging disc, may develop into a herniated disc, so it's important to do what's necessary to prevent this from happening.
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