Disc Pain Treatment in Frisco, Denton, and Plano, TX

Disc pain is caused by a herniated spinal disc and most frequently occurs in the lower portion of the spine but can sometimes be experienced as pain in the neck. While some people may not even experience symptoms of their herniated disc, one of the most commonly experienced symptoms is pain. The symptoms that are experienced depend on a fair bit on the location of the injured disc and whether it is placing pressure on a nerve. The pain associated with lower spine disc slipping or herniation is often described as sharp pain or numbness, commonly located on one side of the body within the buttocks, hip, leg, calf, or sole. Many patients will report the pain in the back worsening with prolonged sitting and bending down repeatedly, or while coughing, laughing, straining, and sneezing. If a nearby nerve is being pressed upon by the slipped disc, it is common to experience tingling, pain, and numbness radiating into the leg or arm on one side of the body.

If you are experiencing significant back pain, you must seek medical attention to determine the cause of the pain and to confirm whether it is disc pain or if any medical interventions are required for treatment. In many cases, physicians will prescribe anti-inflammatory medication and will provide some at-home recommendations to offer further pain relief until the injury has recovered. These tips include applying hot and cold compresses to the affected area to reduce pain and inflammation, avoiding having too much bed rest as that can lead to increasingly stiff joints and weakened muscles, making recovery difficult, but only resuming activities that are deemed safe and protective of the back and at a gradual pace to prevent reinjury or backsliding. 

The pain associated with herniated discs and pinched nerves are very similar but can be differentiated depending on when the pain occurs and where the discomfort is taking place. Both types of pain are often described as burning, numbness, and tingling that can radiate out from the affected area into the nearby limbs. Both herniated discs and pinched nerves can occur in the lower back, although the latter will also commonly occur in the neck, causing a loss of feeling all of the way down the arm from the shoulder to the fingers. A pinched nerve in the upper back is also fairly common, causing pain in the chest or torso. Herniated discs will more often than not occur in the lower back, leading to pain radiating from the buttocks down the leg to the foot. Herniated discs can also occur in the neck, causing pain in the shoulder or arm. The biggest difference between the two injuries is that pain experienced from a herniated disc is typically triggered by specific movements that apply pressure to the disc, such as sitting, standing, or walking, but can also result in not experiencing symptoms at all.

Herniated discs can take a while to heal, with most patients being able to experience significant pain relief within 8 to 12 as the disc recovers. In most cases, the injury will not require surgery and will be completely resolved within 6 months with proper care and prevention of re-injury. It is important to follow the recommendations and instructions provided by your physician, including taking prescribed anti-inflammatory medications and in some cases, going to physical therapy to loosen tightened muscles, improve circulation, and relieve pressure on the nerves. Although it is often the assumption that the injury needs to be rested as much as possible, inactivity has been shown to lead to a slower healing period for herniated discs, making maintaining regular exercise very important in a speedy recovery to relieve pain as efficiently as possible.

First-line measures include anti-inflammatory medications including naproxen or ibuprofen. It is important to continue with activities, may benefit from working with physical therapy or chiropractor Traction could have some value in neck pain. If pain is severe may use a short course of stronger analgesics but better avoid.

Epidural steroid injection is a good option to control sciatic Pain and axial back or neck pain could get relief from facet joint injection with cortisone Regenerative medicine has options including PRP or bone marrow concentrate injections which could help improve the healing potential.

Your disc pain can be diagnosed and treated to resolve the issue effectively by our board-certified pain specialist Dr. Mahesh Mohan MD and his team of trained professionals at Pain Specialists of Frisco. For more information, contact us or schedule an appointment online. We have convenient locations in Frisco, TX, and Denton, TX. We serve patients from Frisco TX, Denton TX, McKinney TX, Plano TX, Carrollton TX, Flower Mound TX, Lewisville TX, Allen TX, Aubrey TX, and surrounding areas.