Symptoms of lumbar disc herniation

Lumbar disc herniation brings great pain to patients and has a great impact on health. People who suffer from lumbar disc herniation are mainly manual laborers. Because the intervertebral disc is strained and degenerated, the annulus fibrosus ruptures, which will further stimulate and compress the nerves, causing a series of symptoms. When patients have radiating pain in the lower limbs, low back pain and other symptoms, they should be alert to the onset of lumbar disc herniation.

Lumbar disc herniation is one of the diseases that many people will suffer from. It usually manifests as lower back pain or causes lower limb pain. Once lumbar disc herniation occurs, you should go to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible. So do you understand the symptoms of lumbar disc herniation?

Symptoms of lumbar disc herniation

1. Radiating pain in the lower limbs.

Due to lumbar disc herniation, nerves in other parts are stimulated, but radiating pain in the lower limbs has never been caused. The main manifestation of the lower limbs is sciatica, which is radiating pain from the lower back to the buttocks, back of the thigh, outer side of the calf to the foot. The pain will be aggravated when the abdominal pressure increases, such as sneezing and coughing. The radiating pain is mostly on one side of the limbs, and only a very small number of patients with central or paracentral nucleus pulposus herniation show symptoms in both lower limbs. Radiating pain may also occur in the legs, often after the lower back pain has eased or disappeared, and is characterized by radiating irritation or numbness that reaches the soles of the feet. In severe cases, there will be electric shock-like pain. In mild cases, the patient can walk but with a limp.

2. Low back pain.

It is normal for patients with lumbar disc herniation to experience low back pain. This is because the outer layer of the annulus fibrosus and the posterior longitudinal ligament are stimulated by the nucleus pulposus, which causes induced pain in the lower back through the vertebral nerve. Generally, patients feel a continuous dull pain in the lower back. The symptoms are relieved when lying down, but the pain will worsen when standing up. For mild cases, you can move your waist appropriately or walk slowly; if it is a sudden spasm-like severe pain in the waist, you should stay in bed and rest. Turning over and sitting will have an impact. If you insist on working, it will aggravate the symptoms and will have a serious impact on your future life and work. The patient's low back pain may last for several weeks or months, depending on the individual. The symptoms of lumbar disc herniation will be relieved after proper rest, but coughing, sneezing or straining during bowel movements will aggravate the pain.

3.Cauda equina symptoms.

Central herniated nucleus pulposus is the most common type, in which the nucleus pulposus protrudes toward the back or the prolapsed and free intervertebral disc tissue compresses the cauda equina. Numbness and tingling in the perineum, bowel and bladder dysfunction, urinary incontinence in women, and impotence in men may occur. Severe patients may experience incontinence and incomplete paralysis of both lower limbs. Therefore, the symptoms of lumbar disc herniation are harmful to a certain extent.