Psychology of a Herniated Disc
The psychology of a herniated disc figures greatly into the symptoms experienced by any diagnosed patient.
Herniated discs
are among the most feared of all
back pain diagnoses
and certainly bring an air of doom and gloom to all who are affected by this common
spinal abnormality.
This mindbody medicine article will explore some of the potentially serious emotional consequences of disc pathologies.It is crucial for diagnosed patients to separate fact from fiction when it comes to herniations. It is a known fact that many are completely harmless and most will not cause chronic pain. There is little, if any, evidence linking herniated discs to the incidence of back or neck pain. Psychology of a Herniated Disc / DiagnosisBeing diagnosed with a herniated disc is often described as the single scariest time in a person’s life. The mere utterance of the words HERNIATED DISC were enough to make me feel faint when pronounced by my doctor in my early twenties. I recall the many horror stories told to me by my mother, who suffered from a lumbar disc bulge which eventually led her to undergo an unsuccessful laminectomy prior to my birth. Worse of all, she never did fully recover and continued to have pain throughout most of her life… Psychology of a Herniated Disc / MythologyWe have all heard the stories about people who suffer from agonizing disc pain. Herniated discs have a fearsome reputation as a treatment resistant disorder and also a chronic health concern. In actuality, neither of these myths is true…Most herniated discs are not painful or symptomatic in any way. This is especially true for disc herniations due to normal degeneration in the spine. Herniations due to back injury might be painful for a short time, typically 6 to 8 weeks, but will usually resolve all by themselves. Herniated discs are often blamed for enacting
sciatica
or causing a
pinched nerve
condition, but these instances are indeed rare and are usually just another form of
back pain scapegoat.
Many objective research studies have concluded that there is little or no correlation between herniated discs and painful symptoms and most support the idea that even painful
bulging discs
should be treated conservatively and non-surgically. Psychology of a Herniated Disc / AdviceI still have a total of 12 known herniated discs in my back and neck. For many years, I was only aware of 2 in my lower back which were blamed for causing my miserable back pain for most of the first 2 decades I suffered with symptoms. I bought into the idea, since I had faith in my doctors and did not even think to question their diagnosis. Well, that was my mistake…It took me FAR TOO LONG to realize that they had it all wrong. Luckily for me, Dr. John Sarno taught me the truth about disc conditions and most chronic back pain, in general. I used this knowledge to cure my pain, but the benefits did not last forever. Eventually time and age brought all the agony back and more, as well as the discovery of 10 more herniations. It is important to realize that most typical herniations should not be sources of lasting symptoms. I know of mine, few hold the potential to be symptom generators. Learn the difference between what is considered a normal bulging disc and what is considered problematic. Once you do, then you have to work on overcoming the negative psychology of a herniated disc diagnosis to the best of your ability... I hope that you can break free from the considerable psycho-emotional nocebo effect of the herniated disc verdict and achieve that rare heavenly state of a real cure, regardless of what type of disc condition you have or which treatment path your pursue. Psychology of a Herniated Disc to Back Pain 11/14/08 Revised 11/25/11 |
Sensei Adam Rostocki
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