Signs independent of herniated disc | Symptoms of a slipped disc

Signs independent of herniated disc

Pain resulting from a herniated disc can also have a very significant influence on the general condition and can be an indirect sign of a herniated disc. So it can also happen with severe pain. Patients with chronic back pain will usually take postures that are gentle on the back and therefore cause less pain.

• Nausea
• General discomfort
• Listlessness
• Up to and including depressive symptoms

Unphysiological postures on the one hand and lack of exercise on the other hand will relieve the symptoms but will also lead to incorrect weight bearing and incorrect posture. In some cases, herniated discs can also go completely unnoticed (symptom-free), i.e. do not cause typical symptoms. This is the case in almost all early stages, when the herniated disc begins to form.

In the somewhat rarer acute herniated discs, where there is a sudden protrusion of the disc into the spinal canal, acute symptoms almost always occur. However, the vast majority of herniated disks begin insidiously and are chronic. The first symptoms can take months or even years before they cause complaints. Patients who have a developed herniated disc and strain themselves with one-sided movements or postures experience symptoms much earlier than people who move gently and in a balanced way. The following topic could also be of interest to you: Is there a herniated disc even without pain?

Neurological symptoms of a slipped disc

In advanced and more severe herniated discs, neurological symptoms appear in addition to back pain. These include, on the one hand, insensitivity, which is often expressed by patients in the form of tingling or numbness. Depending on which vertebra is affected and which disc slips out between the adjacent vertebrae, these so-called tingling paresthesias can occur in the arms, fingers or legs.

At first, patients complain of a “strange” feeling, which is compared to the feeling of “touching cotton wool”. Sometimes, there is also a tingling sensation in these areas, which in turn makes the patients feel restless. In some cases, the feeling of “falling asleep” of a limb develops over a longer period of time.

Sometimes there are also reports of “ants running” on the skin. The pain is often provocative. When sitting (especially when bending forward) or standing for a long time, the pain is usually described as more severe.

In addition to pain, numbness or tingling can often become symptomatic of herniated discs. In pronounced and severe cases of herniated discs, neurological motor symptoms are also associated, i.e. certain parts of the body can no longer be moved in the usual way. What is very stressful for the patient is, however, an important diagnostic criterion for the doctor.

The tingling sensation falls under the medical category of paresthesia and is a kind of sensitivity and sensory disorder. In addition to tingling, the term paresthesia describes other unpleasant bodily sensations such as numbness and temperature perception disorders without adequate stimulation. The pathophysiology behind paresthesia lies in different mechanisms.

On the one hand, the tingling sensation can be caused by damage to sensitive pathways, but on the other hand it can also be caused by injuries to the endings of the sensitive nerve fibres. These are unmyelinated and therefore more susceptible and react to the damage with a spontaneous discharge. The tingling sensation is thus caused by excessive nerve activity without adequate stimulation.

In the case of a herniated disc, the former mechanism applies. The tingling sensation can be caused by nerve damage as well as a reduced perfusion (circulatory disorder). Patients who feel a tingling sensation due to a herniated disc describe this as an unpleasant, sometimes even painful sensation on the skin surface.

It is often described with the feeling of “ants walking” on the skin. The pain can be stinging, pulling and burning as well as tingling or electrifying. In connection with the tingling sensation, patients often report numbness in the corresponding region.