Can a herniated disc be pushed back?

Lumbar disc herniation is a common lumbar disease. Like cervical spondylosis, it will have a great impact on a person's normal ability to move. However, what is different from lumbar disc herniation is that it refers to the protrusion between the lumbar vertebrae, which will compress other nerves around the lumbar spine. Many people who don't know much about lumbar disc herniation will think about whether they can press the protruding part back if they have lumbar disc herniation.

Lumbar disc herniation is a serious disease, but there are many misunderstandings about it among the public. For example, many people rely too much on massage to treat low back pain, which is a big misunderstanding.

Clinically, many patients' understanding of orthopedic diseases is limited to pain. They believe that if there is no pain, there is no disease, and if the pain is relieved, the condition has improved. But in fact, the degree of pain is not parallel to the severity of the disease. Moreover, massage can only play an auxiliary health-care role. Once severe low back pain occurs, you should first go to a regular hospital for medical consultation and follow the doctor's advice.

"A patient once came to the outpatient clinic and said, 'There is a miracle doctor in a certain place who specializes in treating low back pain. No matter what the cause is, whether it is lumbar disc herniation or lumbar spinal stenosis, just a press will cure it. I can't help but believe it. My relative XX was cured there. He went in lying down and came out walking! Although the registration fee is very expensive, it is very difficult to get an appointment with such a miracle doctor. All appointments have been made until next year.' After hearing such a description, professional spinal surgeons are really ashamed! No surgery or medication, just a press will cure it. This is not a miracle doctor, this is simply a god.

In fact, most people would be skeptical after hearing such words, but the key is that everyone is "willing" to believe that this is true, especially patients suffering from low back pain, who are even more willing to believe it, because this statement is very much in line with their wishes.

Massage therapy is indeed a treatment method and is quite effective for some low back pain. For example, many people have suffered from lumbar muscle strain. After going to the hospital or a street massage parlor and getting two massages, the symptoms will be relieved a lot. However, it should be noted that what is referred to here is strain-induced inflammation of the lumbar muscle soft tissue. After massage, blood circulation is promoted and lumbar muscle tension and spasm are relieved. It can be said that the treatment is relatively correct.

There is another condition, clinically known as 'lumbar facet joint disorder syndrome', which is characterized by sudden severe pain in the lower back, inability to move, forced posture, and difficulty turning over in bed. The pathogenesis of this disease is that the lumbar motion functional unit composed of the lumbar intervertebral disc and the facet joints on both sides becomes unstable after lumbar degeneration. The abnormal movement of the facet joints compresses the synovium of the inner layer of the facet joint capsule into the facet joint space, causing severe low back pain. "At this time, massage will reset the compressed synovium and the low back pain will be relieved immediately."

The so-called 'miracle doctor' mentioned by the patients was probably the one who cured some patients with lumbar facet joint disorders by pressing a button. So it was widely spread by everyone, how magical it is. In fact, that "miracle doctor" also switched the concept, mistaking low back pain for lumbar disc herniation and lumbar spinal stenosis. Low back pain is a symptom, and lumbar disc herniation is the name of the disease, and the two are not in the same category.

So for patients with lumbar disc herniation, does massage have any magical effect?

Massage can indeed relieve patients' pain, or even eliminate it eventually, but the absence of pain does not mean that the disease has been cured. Since the nerves from the lumbar spine are divided into sensory branches and motor branches, long-term compression of the nerves may lead to loss of function of the sensory branches, resulting in disappearance of pain and subsequent paralysis. Therefore, the disappearance or reduction of pain has nothing to do with massage, but is related to the duration of the disease and the individual's tolerance. If the motor branches are under pressure for a long time, lower limb weakness and even partial muscle paralysis will occur, leading to lameness and subsequent disability. Sometimes, after massage, the pain worsens or the lower limbs become weak. This is also caused by the large protruding nucleus pulposus and external pressure causing nerve damage.

Some people claim that they can 'push back' a herniated lumbar disc, which is both impossible and extremely scary. The intervertebral disc is located between two vertebrae, and behind the disc is the spinal canal that contains the nerve tissue, so it is impossible to simply push the protruding disc back. For patients with obvious spinal cord compression, improper massage may aggravate spinal cord injury, and in severe cases may cause incontinence or even paralysis.

If you unfortunately experience lower back pain and are unable to judge the severity of the condition, you should still see a specialist before starting treatment to determine the nature of the disease before taking treatment. Otherwise, blind massage will not only be of no benefit, but may even aggravate the condition.