Low back pain as a result of a herniated discs is a common presentation with individuals that present in a chiropractic office. Recently, Dr. Reece Hayden from Synergy Chiropractic of Houston, created a brief video describing the anatomy of the spine, as well as disc herniation problems. Wondering what may be going on with your low back pain? Check out this video, and contact our office for a consult with Dr. Hayden.

Below is the transcript of the video that Dr. Reece Hayden recently posted about herniated discs. Enjoy!

Dr. Reece’s Video Transcript for Herniated Discs and Low Back Pain

Howdy everybody,

Today, we are going to be talking about low back pain, and herniated discs, and how it effects the nerves. And why it might provoke pain in either your arm, shoulder, low back, hips, legs, etc. So, to start out, our back/spine is made up of a bunch bones that are actually pretty tiny. But between these bones are discs that absorb the impact of the weight when we take steps.

These discs, that are shock-absorbers, are basically a type of texture that’s semi-rubbery, but in the very center of this structure is a jelly type substance. Over time, due to poor lifting or traumatic accidents like a motor vehicle accident, these jellies push up against the fibers that make up the rubbery disc. This can potentially cause weakening of the fibers and then lead to a herniation. Which in turn leads to low back pain.

A herniation is whenever the jelly like substance makes a bulge in the fiber pushing outwards. So if you look right here, there is a little bit of a bulge that’s pushing out of the disc. The reason this is significant, is because there are a lot of structures that come through this little hole right here.

Structures like blood supply and nerves. Whenever a herniation occurs, it has the potential of causing narrowing of this area and can push up against the nerves. The reason this can cause pain is because it is pushing up against the front of the nerve. That is the part of the nerve that sends signals up into the brain saying there is pain.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. There are multiple different types of therapies that can be done. There are passive therapies, active therapies, and injections. If it really boils down to it and they are really big and causing a problem, then there are options of doing surgery as well.

I highly recommend that if you are experiencing something like this or have been in car accident, you should get this checked out. The only way to verify if a herniated disc is there is with an MRI. If you have any questions, please feel free to give our office a call. We will help you out the best we can.