Slipped disc

Need to know

• Symptoms of slipped disc icon plus

  Not every herniated disc causes symptoms. In fact, many people discover they have a herniated disc after having an MRI scan for an unrelated reason. Most herniated discs occur in your lower back (lumbar spine), although they can also occur in your neck (cervical spine) and middle back (thoracic spine). Symptoms of a herniated disc are:

  
  

  • arm or leg pain — herniated discs in your lower back produce pain in your buttocks, thigh and calf; herniated discs in the neck produce pain down the shoulder and arm
  • numbness or tingling
  • weakness in the area served by the affected nerve

• Screening and diagnosis icon plus

  A consultant will go through your medical history to check for contributing factors such as ageing, exercising too hard, smoking, obesity and heavy lifting. They will also conduct a physical examination and may recommend you have an MRI scan.

• Potential treatment options icon plus

  If your herniated disc becomes very painful and does not respond to non-operative treatment, you may need surgery. In most cases the disc is removed with a procedure called a discectomy. In the lower back this is often all that is required but in certain cases your surgeon may decide to replace the disc with a cage which will fuse with the vertebrae over time.

  When a discectomy is done in the neck it is almost always accompanied by insertion of a cage or artificial disc replacement. In both the neck and lower back additional metalwork may need to be inserted to give greater stability. Please discuss these options with your surgeon to decide which is best for you.