Is heat or cold better for bulging disc? (2023)

Should you put heat or cold on a bulging disc?

Ice also creates a numbing effect, so it helps soothe the initial pain, especially if it is intense. Just make sure to use a barrier between your skin and the ice (like a paper towel or washcloth) to avoid injury. Heat therapy may be best after those first 48 hours, as heat helps to relieve painful muscle spasms.

Treatment with rest, pain medication, spinal injections, and physical therapy is the first step to recovery. Most people improve in 6 weeks and return to normal activity. If symptoms continue, surgery may be recommended.

Relieve inflammation

For mild herniated disc pain, relieve the inflammation to decrease pain. For instance, applying a heating pad or ice pack to the affected area may be a good way to temporarily relieve your pain and reduce inflammation.

Applying heat and/or cold therapy to the lower back can alleviate muscle tension that is commonly present with a lumbar herniated disc. Heat helps loosen the muscle tightness that causes spasms, increases blood flow, and improves elasticity of connective tissue.

Start with ice to relieve inflammation. Apply an ice pack to your lower back for the first couple of days after the pain starts. On day three or four, switch to heat. Use a heating pad or an over-the-counter heat patch to help relax the muscles.

The pain from a herniated disc usually is worse when you are active and gets better when you are resting. Coughing, sneezing, sitting, driving, and bending forward may make the pain worse. The pain gets worse when you make these movements because there is more pressure on the nerve.

Herniated Disk (Slipped, Ruptured or Bulging Disk) A herniated disk is also known as a slipped, ruptured or bulging disk. It's one of the most common causes of neck, back and leg pain. Most of the time, herniated disks heal on their own or with simple home-care measures.

The good news is that remedial massage can be very beneficial in treating bulging or herniated disc symptoms. The type of remedial massage treatment will depend on the severity of the disc issue.

An L4-L5 disc bulge or slip-disc (slipped disc) pinches and leads to serious health issues, including impotence, reproduction issues, infertility, loss of bowel and bladder control, or paralysis in one or both legs.

Is ice pack good for bulging disc?

Relieve inflammation

For mild herniated disc pain, relieve the inflammation to decrease pain. For instance, applying a heating pad or ice pack to the affected area may be a good way to temporarily relieve your pain and reduce inflammation.

The key is to ice for 20 minutes, causing the vessels to narrow, and then heat for 15 minutes, causing the vessels to dilate. This acts as a pumping mechanism to the inflammation, pushing it away from the injured area.

Yes! Chiropractic care is the preferred treatment method for many patients suffering from a bulging disc. It is non-invasive and does not require drugs or injections of any kind. Chiropractic can help provide you with improved mobility, decreased pain, and overall better quality of life.

A standing desk is a great option, but if you must sit, rest your spine firmly against the chair back, sit up straight, and don't slouch (which strains the spinal ligaments and aggravates a herniated disc). Your knees should be level with your hips, or slightly above the hips if you're seated at a desk.

“Many people who have pain from a bulging disc will get pain relief with a few days of rest and some anti-inflammatories. Traction, physical therapy, and epidural steroid injections can be beneficial as well.”

How long do these disc herniations take to heal? Most disc bulges resolve in 6-8 weeks, but it can take longer depending on the size of the bulge (i.e. if the bulge is hitting the nerve behind it like described above).

The good news is that in most cases — 90% of the time — pain caused by a herniated disc will go away on its own within six months. Initially, your doctor will likely recommend that you take an over-the-counter pain reliever and limit activities that cause pain or discomfort.

Sitting for long periods is not advised if you suffer from a herniated disc. It places more stress on your spinal discs, worsening the pain. You can maintain comfort by regularly moving around or standing up from your seat.

Most (80-90%) cases involving bulging or herniated discs will heal within 2-4 months. This of course depends on the severity of the injury, as well as your age and overall health. An important difference is that a herniated disc is a permanent injury that usually results in chronic, recurring pain.

Is bed rest good for bulging disc?

Rest. Most often 1-2 days of strict bed rest will calm severe back pain. Bed rest should not exceed 48 hours. Once you are back into your daily routine, you should take frequent rest breaks throughout the day- but avoid sitting for long periods of time.

Sokunbi notes, “and sometimes don't have the ability to heal completely.” Most often, herniated discs in healthy patients heal quickly. However, nerve compression bad enough to cause radiculopathy—pain radiating down the nerve to an arm or leg—may take longer to get better, says Dr. Butler.

L5-S1 Disc Bulge Symptoms

This process is absolutely normal and is a part of aging and happens with everyone. L5-S1 bulging discs are most common as they take the stress and weight of the body. The symptoms experienced in the lower back can be terribly painful.

Radiating pain: the pain begins in the lower back and radiates down the inner side of the leg to mid-thigh. Hypoesthesia: Numbness or loss of sensation on the inner side of your leg and foot. Reflexes: The knee jerk reflex may be absent.

Treatment of L5-S1 usually begins with: Medication. Over-the-counter (OTC) medications, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are usually tried first for pain stemming from L5-S1. For more severe pain, prescription medication, such as opioids, tramadol, and/or corticosteroids may be used.

The reality is that forward bending stretches are bad for your lower back and for lumbar disc bulges. In fact, with a disc bulge or herniated disc this is one of the worst things you can do.

Bending over and curving your back is a surefire way to cause yourself pain with a herniated disc. Most people don't realize how much they actually bend over in the course of a day until they have a herniated disc or another back injury. Best to avoid it until your back feels better.

On occasion, a disk herniation will dehydrate or shrink back but it is rare that it will disappear so unfortunately, there is no magic formula. We don't even have stem cell options that we've been able to create that allow us to regenerate the disk.

They are highly prevalent in this area and can lead to symptoms such as leg pain, numbness in legs, feet or toes, acute lower back pain, and other symptoms. Approximately 90% of bulging discs occur at L4-L5 and L5-S1, causing pain in the L5 or S1 nerve that radiates down the sciatic nerve.

Referred pain from L4-L5 usually stays within the lower back and is typically felt as a dull ache. The back may also feel stiff. Depending on the type and severity of the underlying cause, the L4-L5 motion segment may cause lumbar radicular pain of the L4 and/or L5 spinal nerves, also called sciatica.

What nerves does L4-L5 affect?

This nerve also controls hip, knee, foot and toe movements. The sciatic nerve consists of the L4 and L5 nerves plus other sacral nerves. Your sciatic nerve starts in your rear pelvis and runs down the back of your leg, ending in your foot.

If you have truly pulled or strained your lower back muscles, applying heat will cause inflammation. Heating inflamed tissues will make your pain worse and certainly won't help things get better any time soon.

Rule of thumb for most injuries: Ice first, heat later. But avoid using them in tandem except as directed by a health care provider, Jake said. Most injuries cause your body to react with inflammation and swelling. Ice is used to cool down the injured joint or tissue and reduce swelling.

After an acute injury, ice should be used to minimize swelling for the first two to three days. After this period, heat can be used to increase blood flow and assist the natural healing process. Applying heat too early may cause additional swelling by increasing blood flow to the injury.

Ice helps reduce inflammation and numb pain, whereas heat helps relax muscles and stiff joints. While heat helps improve circulation and blood flow, ice reduces blood flow thereby reducing inflammation and swelling.

In nearly all cases, surgeons can remove just the protruding portion of the disk. Rarely, the entire disk must be removed. In these cases, the vertebrae might need to be fused with a bone graft. To allow the process of bone fusion, which takes months, metal hardware is placed in the spine to provide spinal stability.

Types of treatment your doctor may recommend include: Pain medication such as over the counter muscle relaxants. Physical therapy to strengthen back muscles and reduce pressure on the disc. Injections of steroids to reduce inflammation – one or more shots over time.

Corticosteroid injections can reduce inflammation and can be effective when delivered directly into the painful area. Unfortunately, the injection does not make a herniated disc smaller; it only works on the spinal nerves by flushing away the proteins that cause swelling.

Daily walks are an excellent way to exercise with a herniated disc, without putting additional strain on your spine and causing painful symptoms to flare up.

Flexion Based Movements

This typically causes the disc herniation to put extra pressure on surrounding tissues, causing increased muscle spasms and potential nerve symptoms. Flexion based activities include bending down to pick something up, traditional biking, sit ups, toe touches, and deep squats.

What should you not do if you have a bulging disc?

A person with a disc herniation should avoid heavy lifting, sudden pressure on the back, or repetitive strenuous activities during recovery. People should avoid all exercises that cause pain or feel as though they are making the pain worse.

As you might expect, a herniated or bulging disc in the lumbar spine can put pressure on the spinal cord and cause muscle spasms, cramps, numbness and considerable pain in the neck, back or legs. The good news is that remedial massage can be very beneficial in treating bulging or herniated disc symptoms.

It is proper to sit up straight without slouching. When you slump, you put extra pressure on the discs in the spine and can aggravate your herniated disc. Additionally, you want to ensure your knees are level with your hips. Your hips should be slightly above your knees if you sit at a desk.

Yes! Chiropractic care is the preferred treatment method for many patients suffering from a bulging disc. It is non-invasive and does not require drugs or injections of any kind. Chiropractic can help provide you with improved mobility, decreased pain, and overall better quality of life.

Muscle Relaxants

If a disc slips from its place between vertebrae and pinches a nerve, the electrical signals that move from the nerve to nearby muscle tissue may be disrupted, leading to painful muscle spasms. Muscle relaxant medications can calm spasms and ease pain, letting you move more easily.

Herniated disk pain can sometimes be intermittent. People can have minor pain that's always there or stronger pain that comes and goes depending on the activity they're doing. Varying pain typically has to do with movement and the position of the body.