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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics
• Genetics

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• Images
• Videos and Tutorials

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Patient Handouts

Summary

Your backbone, or spine, is made up of 26 bones called vertebrae. In between them are soft disks filled with a jelly-like substance. These disks cushion the vertebrae and keep them in place. As you age, the disks break down or degenerate. As they do, they lose their cushioning ability. This can lead to pain if the back is stressed.

A herniated disk is a disk that ruptures. This allows the jelly-like center of the disk to leak, irritating the nearby nerves. This can cause sciatica or back pain.

Your doctor will diagnose a herniated disk with a physical exam and, sometimes, imaging tests. With treatment, most people recover. Treatments include rest, pain and anti-inflammatory medicines, physical therapy, and sometimes surgery.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Start Here

• Herniated Disk (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Discography (Discogram) (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Myelography (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Radiographic Assessment for Back Pain (North American Spine Society)
• Spine CT (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Spine MRI (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Artificial Disc Replacement (ADR) (North American Spine Society)
• Epidural Injections (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Laparoscopic Spine Surgery (Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons)
• Lumbar (Open) Microscopic Discectomy (North American Spine Society)
• Spinal Fusion (North American Spine Society)

Related Issues

• Cauda Equina Syndrome (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• Cervical Radiculopathy (Pinched Nerve) (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Herniated Cervical Disc (North American Spine Society)
• Herniated Disk in the Lower Back (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) - PDF
• Herniated Lumbar Disc (North American Spine Society)

Genetics

• Intervertebral disc disease: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Images

• Lumbar spinal surgery - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Spinal fusion - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Spinal surgery - cervical - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Videos and Tutorials

• Herniated nucleus pulposus (slipped disk) (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Intervertebral Disc Displacement (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Research advances in unilateral endoscopic spinal surgery for the treatment of...
• Article: Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding lumbar disc herniation among diagnosed patients.
• Article: Deep learning-based automatic detection and grading of disk herniation in lumbar...
• Herniated Disk -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Definitions (North American Spine Society)

Find an Expert

• National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Herniated disk (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Spinal fusion (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Spine surgery - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish