The relationship between lumbar disc herniation and straight leg raising

In daily life, many people are prone to lumbar disc herniation, which is a common disease in orthopedics. Patients with this disease will experience low back pain, leg pain, and difficulty in movement. When suffering from lumbar disc herniation, the straight leg raising method is generally used for testing. This method can determine which lumbar vertebrae of the patient have symptoms of herniation.

Straight Leg Raise Test

The patient lies on his back with both lower limbs stretched out. The examiner holds the patient's knee with one hand to straighten the knee joint and holds the ankle with the other hand and slowly lifts it up until the patient feels radiating pain in the lower limbs. The angle between the lower limbs and the bed at this time is recorded, which is the straight leg raising angle. Normal people can generally reach 80-90 degrees. If the elevation is less than 70 degrees and is accompanied by radiating pain in the posterior part of the lower limb, it is positive. The straight leg raising test is based on the straight leg raising test, with the addition of dorsiflexion of the foot, which makes the sciatic nerve stretch tighter and the radicular pain more severe (positive). This test combined with the straight leg raising test is double positive, which is more significant.

The principle of the straight leg raising experiment: when the lower limbs are raised, the sciatic nerve is stretched, which aggravates the stimulation of the nerve by the protruding lumbar disc. Therefore, a positive result in this test is common in lumbar disc herniation and can also be seen in simple sciatica. In patients with more severe lumbar disc herniation, not only is the straight leg raising test positive on the affected side, but the straight leg raising test on the healthy side may also be positive. This is because when the healthy lower limb is raised, the nerve roots may pull on the dura mater sac, thereby correspondingly changing the relative position of the contralateral nerve and the herniation, inducing pain.

Exercise methods for patients with lumbar disc herniation

1. Tuck your knees to your chest

Patients with lumbar disc herniation should lie on their back with their knees bent, hold their knees with their hands and bring them as close to the chest as possible, but be careful not to arch their backs off the bed.

2. Knee sit-ups

The patient with lumbar disc herniation lies in supine position with both knees bent, abdomen contracted to lift the trunk, and hands touching the knees.

3. Crawling and lying prone with knees and upper limbs supported

Patients with lumbar disc herniation should relax their waist and slowly sink up. After doing it 10 times, straighten one lower limb and bend the knee so that it touches the elbow joint on the same side as much as possible. Repeat 15 times.

4. Straight Leg Raise

Patients with lumbar disc herniation need to lie on their backs, place their hands under their buttocks, slowly lift their lower limbs with their knees slightly bent, then put them down, and repeat 15 times.

5. Lie on your back and lift your pelvis

Patients with lumbar disc herniation lie on their back with their knees bent. Using their feet and back as fulcrums, they lift their pelvis and then slowly lower it, repeating this 20 times.

6. Leg press

Patients with lumbar disc herniation sit on the bed with one knee slightly bent and the other lower limb straightened. The trunk leans forward to press on the straightened lower limb, and then switches to the other lower limb.

7. Side-lying leg lift

Patients with lumbar disc herniation lie in side-lying position with the upper leg straight and the lower knee slightly bent. The upper leg is lifted and then slowly lowered, repeating dozens of times.