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Stanford Health Care

Types

How We Can Help You for Herniated Discs

The doctors in the Stanford Medicine Spine Center are leaders in the diagnosis and treatment of herniated discs, a condition where one or more damaged discs between the bones in your spine bulge or break open. Most herniated discs occur in the lower back.

We personalize a treatment plan to help relieve your symptoms, which most commonly include pain, weakness, numbness, or tingling in the lower back. Our team also can guide you to the best diet and exercise for your condition. We can even help you and your family members take action to reduce the risk of developing herniated discs.

In addition, Stanford Medicine Spine Center patients with herniated discs may have opportunities to participate in research studies of new treatment approaches not yet available anywhere else.

What We Offer You for Herniated Discs

  • Center of Excellence providing advanced care for all spine-related conditions.
  • Nationally recognized leadership in treating all herniated disc cases, even the most complex.
  • Precise diagnosis options including the latest imaging technology.
  • Team-based treatment planning that brings together orthopaedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, pain management specialists, geneticists, and others to tailor care to your needs.
  • Advanced treatment options emphasizing noninvasive approaches whenever possible, including exercises, physical therapy, and medication therapy, and, when needed, spine surgery.
  • Comprehensive support services including care coordination from diagnosis to treatment to follow-up care.
  • Active research program to develop new diagnostic and treatment advances.

Treatments for Herniated Discs

We offer all treatment options for herniated discs but we always emphasize the least invasive approach possible. Your doctor will talk to you about your medical history and conduct a physical examination. Then your care team will develop a treatment plan customized to your specific condition. Treatment may include:

 

Education

It is important to know what actions you can take to relieve your symptoms and prevent your condition from getting worse. Topics of education may include, for example, how to properly lift objects.

Physical therapy

Your treatment may include exercise and conditioning programs, massage therapy, ultrasound, and more.

Weight management

Excess body weight may increase your risk of developing a herniated disc. Our team will help you develop and stick with an effective plan to reduce or control your weight.

Medication

Your doctor may recommend over-the-counter or prescription medications to help control pain, relax muscles, or provide other symptom relief.

Epidural steroid injections

You may benefit from cortisone or steroid injections. An injection can help decrease inflammation caused by the pressure of the disc herniation on the nerve.

Surgery

If less invasive treatment approaches aren’t effective, we may recommend surgery to remove a herniated disc. Our surgeons excel at the most innovative surgical techniques including a limited discectomy with annular closure. This procedure reduces the likelihood of recurrent lumbar disc herniations in up to half of high-risk patients.

Prevention

To help prevent a herniated disc, your care team may recommend the following:

Exercise
Strengthening the trunk muscles (such as those in the back, stomach, and pelvis) can help support the spine and keep it stable.

Good posture
Proper posture helps reduce pressure on your spine and discs. Keep your back straight, especially when sitting for a long time.

Safe lifting
Lift heavy objects safely, using your legs, instead of your back, to do most of the work.

Weight management
Excess weight adds pressure on the spine and discs. Keeping a healthy weight reduces the risk of disc herniation.

Clinical Trials

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Open Clinical Trials

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Clinical trials are research studies that evaluate a new medical approach, device, drug, or other treatment. As a Stanford Health Care patient, you may have access to the latest clinical trials.

Open trials refer to studies that are currently recruiting participants or that may recruit participants in the near future.

Closed trials are not currently enrolling, but may open in the future.

What Are Herniated Discs?

Discs, similar to small sponges, help cushion the bones in your spine. They absorb shock, support your spine, and keep it flexible.

When a disc is damaged, however, it may bulge or break open. This is called a herniated disc (also known as a ruptured or slipped disc). This can happen anywhere in your spine. But most often, it occurs in the lower back. Doctors call this a lumbar herniated disc.

A herniated disc can cause pain, weakness, numbness, and tingling. Treatment may range from bed rest to surgery.

 

Types of Herniated Discs

Your doctor may use one or more of the following terms to label your condition a specific type of herniated disc:

  • Lumbar herniated disc—occurs in the lower back
  • Thoracic herniated disc—occurs in the upper back
  • Cervical herniated disc—occurs in the neck

Your doctor also may label the specific type of herniated disc activity:

Disc protrusion
A disc protrusion, often called a disc bulge or slipped disc, happens when a disc sticks out from its natural space in the spine. This can press against nerves and cause symptoms.

Disc extrusion
When a spinal disc ruptures, the gel-like fluid inside leaks out. This is called an extrusion. The leaking fluid may press on nerves in the spine, causing pain or other symptoms.

Disc sequestration 
Disc sequestration occurs when the gel-like fluid in a disc leaks out then separates from the disc. A fragment (sometimes called a “free fragment”) can press on nerves in the spine, resulting in symptoms such as pain.

Our Clinics

Stanford Medicine Spine Center

The Stanford Medicine Spine Center is staffed by world-class spine specialists from neurosurgery and orthopaedics, who work together to offer you the world’s most advanced and effective treatment options—including those that don’t involve surgery. Our goal is to safely get you back to your normal lifestyle as soon as possible, and maintain long-term spinal health.

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To schedule an appointment, please call 650-725-1125.