How Do I Distinguish A Hernia From Ordinary Back Pain?

While common back pain usually goes away on its own after a few hours of rest, the symptoms of a hernia can sometimes last for days or weeks.

Back pain is one of the most common medical problems in the world. In fact, it is estimated that eight out of ten people will experience back pain at one or more times in their lives.

There are several factors that can influence back pain, as well as the intensity of the pain and how long the pain lasts.

These kinds of pains are quite mild most of the time and will go away on their own when you give the affected body part a rest or when you perform certain exercises.

Often, however, the discomfort keeps coming back. This can cause a more chronic problem that requires more attention.

Often people choose to ignore back tension because they think it is normal or just temporary. However, this is not the intention at all. This is often a sign that something is not right.

One of those conditions that many people simply ignore is a hernia. This is because many people mistake a hernia for regular back pain. However, this problem becomes more worrisome when symptoms get much worse in just a few days and become much more difficult to treat.

Therefore, it is important to know how to distinguish these two problems and to treat them both appropriately.

What is a hernia?

The intervertebral discs in your spine are held apart by intervertebral discs. These discs are spongy and are intended to help cushion possible injuries to the back and thus prevent the nerves from being pinched.

These discs make it easier to move the spine. This allows the body, for example, to:

• to stoop
• to turn
• to stretch to grab something high
• etcetera

However, as the years go by, these discs lose their elasticity. The cartilage becomes less flexible than when we were young. These discs then become increasingly weak and can bulge out by performing certain movements. They can even be seriously damaged if they receive a serious injury or a severe blow.

In this case, a person suddenly experiences intense pain on one side of their body accompanied by:

• numbness
• weakness
• difficulty moving

It is then determined that this person is dealing with a hernia.

What is the main difference between a hernia and back pain?

The main symptom of a hernia is back pain that gradually becomes more intense.  This is also the reason that this condition is often confused with common back pain.

To distinguish a hernia from normal back pain, it is important to know that in the case of a hernia, the pain gets worse when you:

• have to cough 
• stretching your body
• when you sit for a long time in succession

In general, lying on your back with your knees bent or walking for extended periods instead of standing still is less painful. When someone suffers from a hernia, he often loses strength because the nerves are pinched. This is not the case with common back pain.

If you are dealing with a chronic problem caused by damage to one of the intervertebral discs, it can negatively affect your spine. This could cause permanent damage to your nerves. In this case, you may eventually lose control over, for example, your bladder and bowel movements.

One of the most obvious symptoms of a hernia is that the pain can last for days or sometimes weeks, while regular back pain usually subsides after a few hours of rest.

What can you do if you suffer from a hernia?

The first thing to do if you experience symptoms that may indicate a hernia is to consult your doctor to assess the seriousness of the situation.

Surgery is one of the options to treat this condition. This does not give a 100% guarantee that the pain will be completely gone after this. Doctors are therefore more reluctant to operate these days.

Therefore, many people who suffer from a hernia have turned to alternative medical treatments to improve their problem and prevent it from affecting their quality of life too much.

These treatments include:

• Physiotherapy and Cesartherapy
• heat therapy
• Electrotherapy
• Traction
• Orthopedic braces
• Massage
• Hydrotherapy
• Natural Painkillers

In addition to these forms of therapy, we give you a few more tips to ease the pain:

• Sleep on a good mattress with a wide wooden plank (hernia plank) underneath.
• Sleep in a fetal position with a pillow between your legs. This will prevent your hips from spinning.
• Never try to sleep on your stomach.
• Rest for a few hours, but never for excessively long periods of time. Light exercise is very important for your recovery.

• Never try to use inappropriate force, such as lifting something that is too heavy.
• Walk or swim for thirty minutes a day, even when the pain is already gone.