What is it like to have a herniated disc? The answer depends on who you ask. So many people will tell you that it is hell. They experience daily pain and blame this suffering on their diagnosed disc condition. Others will tell you that they had some pain and then it all went away. They do not worry too much about their herniated disc now. However, the most surprising answer would come from the countless people who are walking around right now with herniated discs that they do not even know exist. They have no pain and have never been diagnosed. These people would obviously answer that having a herniated disc is quite a surprise and no big deal at all!
This dialog provides a unique first person perspective on what it is really like to have a herniated disc. This is a subject that I can certainly address, since I have 12 herniated discs in various regions of my spine.
What is it Like to Have a Painful Herniated Disc?
People who suffer back and neck pain will tell you that life can be a real torture. Chronic, severe symptoms can be disabling and will create negative consequences on mind and body alike. Back pain is consistently rated on the top of all medical pain scales and is also the primary chronic pain issue leading to the most cases of functional disability. There is no doubt that many of our lives have been touched by back pain directly or indirectly by affecting us or the people whom we love and cherish.
Herniated discs are incredibly commonplace. Therefore, people with back pain are likely to demonstrate one or more herniated discs, especially at L4/L5 or L5/S1 in the lower back and C4/C5, C5/C6, C6/C7 and C7/T1 in the neck. Most people who have pain will blame their symptoms on the diagnosed herniated disc, since this is what they have been instructed to do by their doctor, society and the vast collective sum of misinformation being propagated purely for financial profit.
In many cases, the patients are incorrect about attributing pain to their herniated discs, even though their suffering is very real. In other cases, they are spot-on, since they truly demonstrate less common pathological herniated discs that can create very significant symptomology. The problem is knowing definitively which category you might belong in; those with scapegoat disc diagnoses or those with actual intervertebral pathology.
A Herniated Disc without Pain?
Most adults will demonstrate at least one bulging or herniated disc in their spine. However, not all of these people will have any back or neck pain to accompany the disc abnormality. Medical science has never attributed pain to herniated discs universally and does not consider herniations to be inherently painful or problematic. There is simply no evidence of a definitive link between herniations and back pain. Therefore it is no surprise that most people who have herniated discs do not even know it. They have no reason to suspect any spinal irregularity, since they do not have any substantial pain. Regardless, the herniations exist, but have done nothing to influence their quality of life or their level of physical functionality.
Other patients know that they have a herniated disc, or several, yet still have no pain. These disc abnormalities were likely discovered during routine imaging for an unrelated condition. In most instances, people are very shocked to find out that herniated discs are present, since they never had pain, but have certainly had their head filled by much misinformation that casts a negative image on all bulging discs. If they are lucky, their doctor will tell them the truth that most herniations are harmless and that they should not expect to develop any pain. However, statistics show that many doctors will use these opportunities to create a nocebo effect and this psychological influence is the actual cause of future pain that will soon develop, rather than any verifiable disc pathology. This opportunism has fueled the incredibly profitable herniated disc treatment industry for decades, much to the suffering of people across the globe.
What is it Like to Have a Herniated Disc from My POV?
When I was first diagnosed with my first 2 herniated disc at L4/L5 and L5/S1, I thought I finally understood why I had such terrible lower back pain. I went headfirst into treatment for many years, which turned out to be an incredibly expensive and useless proposition. My pain escalated despite a variety of care, since the pain was NEVER the result of my herniated discs. Along the way, I eventually discovered that I actually had all the discs in my neck severely herniated, as well, along with the first 4 in my upper back. These never caused me any major pain, even though they were much more clinically significant than my lumbar disc bulges. This really made me think about the pathological potential of my previous disc abnormalities…
I can tell you that I have some very serious disc issues from a scientific point of view. However, none of these herniated discs ever caused me pain. I know this for sure because I still have the herniated discs and time has made them even worse from a structural point of view. However, I have not had any pain in a long time, since I discovered its true cause and diffused the time-bomb of suffering at its origin.
I just wish I could have figured it all out a bit quicker, as I suffered for most of my best years with truly intractable back pain which defined the very person I became in life… a pain coach, pain research and pain specialist, as well as an author with over 14 books on pain under my belt. I guess I can be thankful that my misery at least paved the away for others to suffer less. This has been my mission and I have accepted it as being my reason for life. I hope that my experience can help you too!
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Herniated Disc > What is a Herniated Disc > What is it Like to Have a Herniated Disc?
