Health

What Activities Need To Be Avoided With A Herniated Disc

The following are some activities which one need to avoid if they are dealing with a herniated (Spine Surgery) disc and these are:

  1. a) Avoid sitting on a couch: Sitting on the couch will put more pressure on your spinal discs. The best option to minimize pain is that you can stand or lie down as much as possible. Try to use a standing desk to get work done on a computer. When you are sitting and doing your work try to use a firm non-reclining chair and if it is possible for you then tuck a lumbar support device behind your lower back so that you feel less pain.
  2. b) Avoid laundry work: When you perform laundry work it requires a lot of bending and carrying a heavy basket of clothes and this will puts a lot of pressure on your lower back. Try to avoid doing laundry work at home or you can take the help of others until your herniated disc heals.
  3. c) Avoid sit-ups and crunches: As we all know that sit-ups and crunches are the best and popular exercise; however, these are one of the worst exercises for people who are dealing with herniated discs problem. In these exercises, the forward flexion of your spine puts a lot of pressure on the discs of your spine.
  4. d) Avoid straight legs up: When you rise up your legs it puts a lot of pressure on your spinal disc and the surgeons at the hospitals under Spine Surgery India suggest avoiding this type of activity.
  5. e) Squats: The surgeons suggest avoiding doing squats because your entire body weight will shift to your lower back when you perform a squat. It has been found that putting too much pressure on the lumbar spine can aggravate disc herniation.
  6. f) Avoid toe touch: The toe touch is also the best and popular exercise which is good for reducing stomach fat, but this stretch creates a rounding of the lower back which puts a lot of pressure on the intervertebral discs in the lumbar spine.
  7. g) Leg press: The leg press is the exercise in which your legs coming up close to the chest and thus rounding the spine, this type of exercise is not good for people who are dealing with disc herniation problems.
  8. h) Cycling: When you perform cycling it required the posture where you need to hunch forward and this exercise is not recommended to the people who are dealing with a lumbar herniated disc.
  9. i) Deadlifts: Deadlifts is the exercise where you need to carry the heavyweight which can put stress on your spine and discs, so in such cases the surgeons at the hospitals under Spine Surgery India suggest avoiding this exercise to the people who are dealing with a herniated disc issues.

How the herniated disc can be diagnosed?

The spine surgeons will properly examine you for numbness, weakness, tingling, and pain. They will suggest you get the X-ray done and on the basis of that X-ray, they will see whether you have a herniated disc or not. They also ask you to get a CT scan or an MRI so that the spine surgeon will get clear pictures of your spine and identify if you have a bulging disc. Your surgeon can ask you to have your nerve tests through which your surgeon can determine which nerves are involved if there is nerve damage, and also check how your nerves are conducting feelings.

How herniated disc can be prevented?

You can prevent the herniated disc by living a healthy lifestyle:

  • Maintain your ideal body weight according to your body mass index (BMI).
  • Try to avoid repetitive movements.
  • Do regular exercise which is recommended by your therapist.
  • Use correct techniques for lifting and bending the objects.
  • Strengthen your back and abdomen muscles.
  • If you are working and your work involves sitting the whole day, it’s better to get up and walk around every hour.

What are the treatments to treat a herniated disc?

The following are the treatments to treat herniated disc and these are:

  1. a) Physical therapy: Your surgeon will suggest some exercises which can be helpful for a herniated disc and the purpose to perform these exercises is to make your back and stomach muscles stronger. Your surgeons at the hospitals under Spine surgery India will assign a physical therapist who will help you in learning these exercises which will ease the pressure on your disc.
  2. b) Medicines: Your surgeon may recommend you over-the-counter pain killer medicines like acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Also, they can prescribe pain medicines, such as a narcotic, which help with severe pain. They may give you muscle relaxants which help in relieving muscle spasms which increases pain.
  3. c) Steroid injections: Your spine surgeon will recommend steroid injections when medicine and physical therapy are failed to provide successful results. Your surgeon will directly insert the steroid shots in your spine which helps in reducing the swelling around your disc and can lessen the pain. At times only one injection is enough which provides relief from pain. Usually, your surgeon will give this injection in a series of shots over a few weeks. With the help of these injections, you will experience pain relief for weeks or months at a time.
  4. d) Surgery: The spine surgeons at the hospitals under Spine Surgery India will recommend surgery as the last option when all the treatments are failed to provide relief from pain. During surgery, your surgeon will remove the part of the entire damaged disc so that it will no longer press on the nerve.

Recovery from a herniated disc

Usually, people will recover within 6 weeks after herniated disc surgery but you cannot perform your regular activities. Your spine surgeon will recommend some light and restricted activities initially and later on they increase the activities according to the recovery. During your recovery period your surgeon will suggest avoiding the following:

  • Quit smoking
  • Hard exercises
  • Lifting heavy objects
  • Excess body weight
  • Incorrect posture while standing, sitting, sleeping or moving.

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