Herniated or slipped discs in the lumbar spine area are relatively common, especially for people in middle age. This condition, more likely to affect individuals between ages 30 and 60, typically presents as lower back pain that radiates into the leg. This occurs when a disc or bone impinges on a nerve as it exits the spinal cord, most commonly between the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae. In older adults, over 60, spinal stenosis is a more common cause.
If the disc is lower in your back, it may irritate your sciatic nerve, leading to pain that radiates through your buttock and down your leg. However, there’s good news: in most cases — 90% of the time — pain caused by a herniated disc will resolve on its own within six months.
Over time, the bones and joints in your lower back undergo changes. Your discs, which act as cushions between the spine’s bones, may wear out and sometimes become fragmented. These changes can cause pain. Another less common cause of low back pain is a herniated disc.
When symptoms do occur, the most common one from a lumbar disc herniation is lower back pain. If the disc herniation impinges on a nerve, such as one of the nerves forming the sciatic nerve, pain may also radiate down the leg, a condition known as sciatica.
A herniated disc occurs when a part of a spinal disc bulges or ruptures and slips out of place, squeezing a spinal nerve. This may cause leg pain, weakness, numbness, cauda equina syndrome, and/or low back pain.
Epidural steroid injections are a common treatment for back pain caused by a herniated disc. Corticosteroids, strong anti-inflammatory medications, can significantly reduce inflammation around an irritated nerve when placed into the epidural space.
Surgical treatments for a herniated disc include discectomy (such as a microdiscectomy or minimally invasive lumbar discectomy) – removal of a portion of a herniated disc, spinal fusion – a bone graft promoting the vertebrae to fuse together, and spinal laminectomy – removal of the lamina to create more space and reduce irritation and inflammation.
Lumbar spondylosis is an age-related degeneration of the vertebrae and disks in the lower back, often referred to as degenerative disk disease and osteoarthritis. This condition is marked by the breakdown of one or more of the disks that separate the spine’s bones.
For more in-depth information, visit HSS Spine Surgeon James E. Dowdell III, MD’s insights, Harvard Health, Harvard Health on Herniated Disc Healing, Home Remedies for Low Back Pain, Disc Herniations in the Lumbar Spine FAQs, HSS on Herniated Disc, Epidural Injections FAQs, In-Depth Overview of Low Back Pain, and Lumbar Spondylosis Information.
