Herniated Disk and Back Pain

The disks are what make up the crucial supporting force whose main job is to regulate the spinal column, along with the bones and muscles within the entire body. The disks within your back are made up of fat, water and tissue. Throughout the day, these disks leak water from them because of gravity. As weird as it may seem, everything that we do in our daily route is affected by gravity. Even sitting down in a chair, so contrary to popular opinions, it actually requires effort for us to sit, and sitting puts pressure on our spine, causing the disks to leak water.

The leaky water is replaced throughout the day, but in a much slower fashion than it is lost. The fat and water that is inside the disk is balanced between each other, but when a person begins aging these consistencies are thrown off and no longer remain balanced causing a person to 'shrink.' The unbalanced water and fat can actually lead to osteoarthritis. And loss in fat and water in the disk seems to be one of the major causes of back pain.

The inner part of the disk is safeguarded by "Nucleus Pulposis." The pulp establishes the core of the disk. The disk's outer region is completely covered by "Annulus Fibrosis." It is common for the connecting tissues to abnormally thicken, causing scaring of the tissue. If this occurs, injury can follow shortly after, infection and then oxygen intake is cut down to the spinal area. In most situations, surgery is eminent. If you or a person you know is suffering from a slipped disk, this means a disk has ruptured. The usual cause for this is an injury being sustained due to an accident, or even a strain on the neck and back.

The technical term for a slip disk is Herniated Nucleus Pulposa. The cause of it is that the invertebral disks are broken open and causes a disturbance in the nucleus pulposa. The most commonly documented HNP, is L4, L5 (Lumbrosacral) and C5-7 (Cervical). The letter refers to the area of the problem and the number that follows it stands for the number of the disks that are having an issue.

In most cases when there is a problem with a cervical disk, the person will feel stiffness in and around their neck. It is also possible for the person to have other symptoms such as a tingling sensation around their hands, possible weakness, and or a numbing effect has also been reported. The neck pain is usually followed by a slowly growing pain that travels to the arms, then the hands and then causes a weakness in the upper body. For the most part the biceps, and triceps.