Intervertebral disc

[runagainsoon]

Greetings,

I have a herniated disc that makes a small bulge into the nerve in my lower back. I've read that the bulge can be removed by discectomy, but that the herniation doesn't heal. What prevents the disc from healing? I'm not medically trained, so pardon my ignorance, but shouldn't the herniation close eventually and scar? Is the lack of healing due to the material the disc is made of? If so, what is that material/tissue? If it's not able to do this, couldn't someone make an adhesive to put in the tear or tape that can be placed over the tear to keep it closed? Sorry if this sounds inane, but this thing is driving me crazy and so it's leading me to all sorts of schemes.

 

John

[Double K]

If the disc is herniated it can break the synovial bursa sac which is kind of like busting open a plastic bag, you just cant fix it back up.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synovial_bursa

 

What is usually done is fusing the discs, or discectomy, neither are great sollutions but there's not much else to do.

Sometimes the herniation is just a bulge and as long as the bursa isnt broken you can reduce the swelling, realign the back and it can go away, but if the injury is more severe you're kind of stuck with it.

[ewmon]

... and modern science has produced some really nice substances called recombinant human bone morphogenetic proteins (rhBMP), or simply bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP), that speed and strengthen the fusing of the two vertebrae. The armed forces also successfully used this substance to replace massive amounts of bone loss in limbs rather than resorting to amputations!

 

The word "recombinant" means that scientists use the human DNA that contains the instructions to make this natural human protein, insert it into the DNA of cells from another organism, and grow those cells in a culture, which then unwittingly produce this human protein. They then isolate the protein from the culture and purify it. Physicians then surgically insert an amount of this protein between the vertebrae after removing the disc, causing the discs to fuse quickly and strongly to one another.

[JohnB]

I'll probably get shot for saying this but...

 

Is the disc fully herniated or just a bulge? If it is just a bulge pressing on the nerves then it quite possibly can be fixed without surgery.

 

Mine was either the L4 or L5 (I'd have to check the scan reports to be sure) and I can attest to the pain being absolutely unbearable. The pain when my appendix ruptured wasn't even close.

 

It took my practicioner about 3 weeks to fix. Heat, manipulation, some little black pills of chinese herbs and a poultice. I have no idea what was in them, but the fact is that I no longer have the disc bulging into the nerve.

 

I add that I'm well aware of the surgical answer because it was recommended I have the proceedure and I had been to the specialist to tee up the surgery before this other option was suggested. I tried it and no longer needed the surgery. P*ssed off my GP no end, because he had no idea how I could have recovered so quickly and permanently.

[knowthetruth12]

it was brought to my attention earlier in the night that we are taller in the morning than we are at night. I had it backwards but fought to make it right, anyways is there a difference in that a person who stands at 6'5" will have a different outcome than a person who is 6'0". Whether it being a difference in the height ratio compared to their height or it affects them completley different fromm one being taller in the morning and the other shorter?

It would be much appreciated if someone could help.

 

Thank you

[Ahsan Iqbal]

I have a herniated disc that makes a small bulge into the nerve in my lower back. I've read that the bulge can be removed by discectomy, but that the herniation doesn't heal. What prevents the disc from healing? I'm not medically trained, so pardon my ignorance, but shouldn't the herniation close eventually and scar? Is the lack of healing due to the material the disc is made of? If so, what is that material/tissue? If it's not able to do this, couldn't someone make an adhesive to put in the tear or tape that can be placed over the tear to keep it closed? Sorry if this sounds inane, but this thing is driving me crazy and so it's leading me to all sorts of schemes.

 

A vertebral disc is a circular structure that is composed of two parts. The central part is known as the nucleus pulposus and the peripheral part is known as annulus fibrosus. The annulus fibrosus consists of circularly arranged fibers which surround the nucleus pulposus, which is a jelly like mass.

 

In case of a herniated disc, the annulus fibrosus tears and the nuclus pulposes bulges out of it, pressing on the spinal nerves or the spinal cord itself. The problem with treatment of the disc is that there is not enough access (so you can't tape it or do similar stuff). The healing of the disc is not considerable because the torn annulus fibrosus cannot be healed until the nucleus pulposus gets to its original position (which is not possible because of the compression generated by weight of the body).

 

I hope this helps John