A herniated disc is a painful condition that affects your spine. A disc in the spinal column can get damaged through a sports injury, an automobile accident, a household fall or through the aging process. When a herniated disc occurs, pain in the area of the injury is prevalent but it is often also associated with pain in other parts of the body.
Function
When you have a herniated disc, your disc is out of place in the spinal column and it is also damaged. Pain is often the result because the herniation causes a pinching of a nerve in the spine. The pinching of the nerve produces a referred pain called radiculopathy. This is commonly called sciatica and produces pain down other parts of the body, such as the leg or the arm.
Significance
When you have a herniated disc you will need to be treated by your doctor. While you will need to stay off of your feet for the first 24 to 48 hours after suffering a herniation, you will need to exercise your back to help you regain strength and mobility as soon as possible after that. Exercises can strengthen the area around the herniated disc and allow you to regain mobility, flexibility and range of motion, according to Spine-Health.com.
Considerations
Exercises that require you to balance can help you strengthen the area surrounding the herniation. Use of an exercise ball can help you do just that. Sit on an exercise ball and find your balance point. Take hold of 2-5 lb. dumbbells in each hand. Curl them up to your shoulders and then return to the starting position. Do this 10 times, take a 30-second break and repeat the set. This will help increase your range of motion.
Expert Insight
While exercise may be the last thing you want to do after suffering a back injury, it is essential that after resting and icing the injury for the first 48 hours, you should try to get back to therapeutic activity. "Almost everyone can benefit from stretching the soft tissues -- the muscles, ligaments and tendons -- in the back and around the spine," said orthopedic expert Dr. Peter Ullrich of the NeuroSpine Center of Wisconsin. "The spinal column and its contiguous muscles, ligaments and tendons are all designed to move, and reduced motion can accentuate back pain. Stretching different muscles and ligaments during back exercises is essential for gaining and maintaining mobility and flexibility."
Warning
Do not engage in any twisting exercises because this can cause more damage to your injury. Check with your physician before starting your exercise program. He may have specific exercises he wants you to do and others he wants you to avoid. He may direct you to work under the trained eye of a physical therapist to make sure exercises are done correctly and your condition is not aggravated.
