A patient can herniate a disc in her lower back in a car accident, a sports injury, a household fall, reaching for an item in an awkward way or simply through the passage of time. There are a number of ways to treat a herniated disc, including rest, physical therapy, medication and surgery. A herniated disc in the lower back is almost always painful, but that's not the only symptom.
Low Back Pain
A herniated lower-back disc almost always results in pain in the lower back. Sometimes the pain may be dull and aching, and other times it may be acute. That pain may limit the patient to very little activity, or it can be something that the patient learns to live with.
Radiated Pain
A lower-back disc herniation almost always results in pain that is radiated to another area of the body. That pain usually goes down the leg and is commonly referred to as sciatica. When pain radiates down the leg, the medical term for it is radiculopathy. The pain down the leg is usually sharp and stinging.
Loss of Muscle Function
A leg muscle may get significantly weaker because the herniated material in the disc presses up against the nerves near the spinal cord and impacts a muscle's ability to function. When this happens, a patient may choose to have surgery to regain all of his previous function.
Numbness or Tingling in the Toes
This symptom frequently goes with a herniated disc. A patient may have referred pain and muscle weakness and then develop numbness in one or more toes. This can go away after surgery, but there are times it will not respond.
Loss of Balance
When one loses muscle function and feeling in the leg, foot or toes, loss of balance is often part of the problem. A person may struggle to keep her balance when walking and find it impossible to jog or run. When this symptom occurs, surgery is almost always needed to bring back full function and balance.
