Herniated Disc Treatments vs. Degenerative Disc Disease Treatments

By: Peter F. Ullrich, Jr., MD

It's critical that the doctor accurately diagnoses the underlying cause of back pain, neck pain, leg pain or other symptoms, since the diagnosis dictates the treatment options.

For example, treating a lumbar herniated disc will not do the patient much good if a muscle strain or other soft tissue injury rather than a herniated disc is the actual cause of the patient’s pain. This point is particularly important for patients who might be considering surgery.

Surgery may be more considered when usually effective non-surgical treatments, such as pain medications, injections, chiropractic care, physical therapy and exercise have not provided adequate pain relief.

With that said, spine surgery can only alleviate a patient’s pain if the herniated disc or degenerative disc seen on the MRI is the actual cause of the pain. If either of these conditions are the source of the pain, the following back surgeries are the most common ones considered:

Microdiscectomy – when a portion of the herniated disc that is pressing on the nerve is removed
Spinal fusion – when the disc space in between two vertebrae is fused into one solid long bone.

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It should be known that surgery is never appropriate:

As an exploratory procedure
When a herniated disc or degenerative disc disease is not likely the cause of the patient’s pain
The patient has chronic pain but the exact source of pain cannot be identified.

In This Article:

What's a Herniated Disc, Pinched Nerve, Bulging Disc...?
Diagnosing Disc Problems
Herniated Disc Treatments vs. Degenerative Disc Disease Treatments

Herniated Disc Information

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For more information and treatment options on a pinched nerve that causes radiculopathy, see articles on herniated disc or disc herniation (the chosen terminology on Spine-health.com), such as: