Blog & Columns
Useful information about health and Korean medicine.
Total 36 posts
Herniated disc: do you have to lie down and rest to heal faster?
In an analysis that pooled 10 clinical trials with 1,923 people, there was no difference in pain or function between those who rested in bed and those who stayed active. Here's how to avoid the movements that hurt and get your normal life back when you have disc pain.
Herniated disc: how should you sleep, and how should you get up?
Night is recovery time, when the disc rests and soaks up water again. Contrary to the advice to sleep on something hard, a study of 313 people found a medium-firm mattress worked better. Here are sleeping positions, turning over like a log, and four steps for getting up in the morning.
When you bend forward, your hips should fold, not your lower back
In a study that measured the pressure inside the disc directly, bending forward while standing was about twice the pressure of standing upright, and the same 20 kg box produced more than twice the pressure depending on how it was lifted. Here's how to practice bending from the hip joint, the real star of the forward bend, and five things to change in daily life.
"How many visits until it's better?" How to think about the length of spinal stenosis treatment
We can't promise a number of visits for spinal stenosis treatment. Instead, at the start we set a baseline, a first check date and the criteria for each fork in the road, and then decide whether to continue, change course or get a surgical consultation based on whether your walking time is on an upward track.
If you have spinal stenosis, rethink those back-bending stretches
In spinal stenosis, the narrowed passage gets even narrower when you bend your back backward, and opens up a little when you bend forward. That's why back-straightening stretches can work against you with stenosis. Here are four exercise directions that fit, and two checks to try today.
My leg is numb. Is it a herniated disc or spinal stenosis?
Numbness in the leg is usually from a pinched nerve, and what pinches it is mainly a herniated disc or spinal stenosis. The most useful clue is whether it hurts more when you sit or when you walk. The two can occur together, or it may be a blood vessel problem, so confirmation comes from examination and imaging. Once it has a name, the goal of treatment changes.
Disc surgery, yes or no? Four questions to ask yourself before you decide
If there are no emergency signs, disc surgery is a choice. One-year results were the same for patients who had surgery right away and those who waited and watched first; the difference was speed. Ask yourself four things: are there signs you shouldn't wait on, is your strength steadily fading, how much does faster relief weigh for you, and if you wait, until when and how will you check?
A badly ruptured disc is actually more likely to be reabsorbed?
The body often clears away a ruptured disc on its own, and badly ruptured ones are cleared more readily. That's because immune cells recognize the fragment that has come out of the outer layer. But it takes time, so wait for a set period, and if you have bladder or bowel problems or steadily weakening legs, get a surgical assessment right away.
Disc surgery: do you get better results if you hurry?
In a trial that divided patients with severe leg pain into immediate surgery or non-surgical treatment first, results after one year were the same, while the surgery group got relief about twice as fast. Unless it's an emergency, surgery is a matter of choice. But non-surgical treatment should be checked over a set period, and bladder or bowel problems or steadily weakening legs are the exception.
Don't Walk Until Your Legs Go Numb
With spinal stenosis, walking less weakens your legs and leaves you able to walk even less. But that doesn't mean pushing on until your legs go numb. If you rest before the numbness starts and then walk again, each stretch may be shorter, but the total you walk in a day goes up. Measuring once a week how long you can walk without stopping is the most honest measure.
Should You Tell Your Parents to Stop Wearing Their Back Brace?
The idea that wearing a back brace for a long time weakens your muscles isn't supported by research so far. When 35 studies were pooled, strength either didn't change or actually increased, and only one study found it decreased. But there's little research following people who wear one for years. Rather than the brace itself, we look at whether your parent walks while wearing it, and whether the brace is hiding warning signs that need checking.
Advised to Have Surgery for Spinal Stenosis? Five Questions to Ask
This article isn't meant to talk you out of surgery. It gives you five questions to ask at any hospital so you don't hand the decision over entirely to someone else: Do you have emergency signs? Do your images match your symptoms? Have you given non-surgical treatment a proper try? What will surgery fix and what will remain? Do you lose anything by waiting? If you have emergency signs, a surgical evaluation comes first.