Is low back pain a herniated disc?

In the outpatient clinic, some patients say they have herniated lumbar discs and back pain on the first visit. There are some misconceptions here. There are many causes of back pain, such as damage to lumbar ligaments and muscles and lesions of lumbar discs, but lumbar spondylolisthesis is also one of the causes of back pain. Lumbar spondylolisthesis occurs due to congenital dysplasia, trauma, strain and other causes of abnormal bony connection of adjacent vertebrae, with partial or complete slippage of the superior and inferior vertebrae. In normal people, the lumbar vertebrae are aligned neatly, and if, for congenital or acquired reasons, one of the lumbar vertebrae slips forward relative to the adjacent lumbar vertebrae, it is known as lumbar spondylolisthesis. The disease occurs mostly in the elderly aged 50 to 60 years old, due to degenerative disc degeneration, disorder of the synovial joint, laxity of the surrounding ligaments, instability of the vertebral space, and posterior displacement of a vertebral body on the hook vertebra. As a result, clinical symptoms such as low back pain or lumbar leg pain appear. This disease belongs to the category of “low back pain” and “low back and leg pain” in Chinese medicine. Conservative treatment is suitable for those who simply collapse, without obvious slippage, and with relatively mild clinical symptoms. The main measures include: 1, lumbar back muscle exercise: the most important to increase the stability of the lumbar spine. 2.Lumbar brace or skin lumbar circumference for external use. 3.Avoid lumbar trauma, heavy load and strenuous exercise. 4.Symptomatic treatment: lumbar physiotherapy, massage and medicine can be used. After the effect of conservative treatment, special attention must be paid to the exercise of the lumbar back muscles, otherwise there is the possibility of recurrent symptoms. Treatment at the same time prohibit activities that increase the lumbar weight-bearing, such as lifting heavy objects, bending, etc. If a patient with lumbar spondylolisthesis has neurological symptoms (numbness and pain in the lower limbs, etc.), and the symptoms are not significantly relieved after regular conservative treatment, and still has long-term lumbar pain and other concomitant symptoms of spondylolisthesis, that is, conservative treatment is ineffective and seriously affects life and work, surgery should be considered. There are many surgical methods for lumbar spine slippage, such as posterior slippage repositioning, pedicle screw internal fixation, intervertebral implant fusion, etc.