Herniated Discs - Sciatica
Caller: I am having a lot of problems with my L5 disc. Every now and then, and for no reason, I get a tremendous pain in that area, my back freezes up and I can't do anything or straighten up. I wind up bent over in half, it goes on for several days.

I went and had an MRI and the radiologist says that I have a herniated disc. I would like to know about what causes it and what possibly could correct it other than surgery.

Dr. Darrow: Great Question. Do you know more than half the people walking around with "disc problems" don't have any pain. What does that tell you? It tells you that even though you may have a 5 millimeter herniation in your disc, that may not be what is giving you pain.

From the history of what you are telling me that you cannot straighten up, this does not typically sound like a herniated disc problem, it sounds like something we call mechanical back pain. This is where your ligaments maybe stretched out or the covering of the muscle called the fascia which attaches all across your back muscles and attaches to the pelvis maybe stretched out.

Do you have pain running down your legs?

Caller: Yes I do, it runs down the sciatica nerve, it runs down my right leg and that will go on for a day or two days and then fades away.

Dr. Darrow: It is a very good thing that it fades away. That's because maybe it is not sciatica nerve pain at all but a referral pain from the ligaments in your back.

We strengthen that whole area up we use MedX back exercises to strengthen the muscles around the vertebrae then we use chiropractic adjustments for alignment, then we use Prolotherapy to thicken and strengthen the ligaments.

Just because it looks like sciatica doesn't men it is sciatica. Sciatica means that the sciatic nerve is actually being impinged on.