Now there is such a common saying, also commonly used for self-flagellation, self-deprecation, “income does not stand out, performance does not stand out, is a herniated disc” is said to be a lumbar disc herniation. What exactly is lumbar disc herniation? What is the story of human beings in the process of recognizing this disease? Listen to me slowly. Just like the process of human understanding nature, it also went through a complicated process. In the 18th century, people already knew sciatica and lumbar pain, and at that time, although they understood the existence of intervertebral disc tissue from anatomy, they did not realize that the symptoms of lumbar pain were caused by herniated discs. It was later believed that the root cause of sciatica lay in lesions within the lumbar spinal canal, and that the symptoms of sciatica would be reduced or disappear after the herniated disc was removed as an intravertebral tumor. It was not until 1932 that a young American physician, Dr. Barr, found cartilage cells in the pathological section of a case of “intravertebral tumor” and further observed that most of the other “intravertebral tumors” were not tumors but protruding lumbar discs. This led to the conclusion that lumbar disc herniation is the main cause of low back pain and sciatica. Professor Fang Xianzhi, the late head of the orthopedic department of Tianjin Hospital and one of the founders of orthopedic surgery in China, started the surgical treatment of lumbar disc herniation in 1946, and gave a detailed introduction to the disease. Lumbar disc herniation is one of the common clinical lumbar disorders, with an incidence of about 15.2% in the population. Its onset is mainly due to degenerative changes of various parts of the lumbar disc, especially the nucleus pulposus, and under the action of various external forces, the fibrous ring of the disc ruptures and the nucleus pulposus tissue protrudes from the rupture, causing the adjacent nerve roots and spinal cord to suffer from stimulation or compression, resulting in symptoms such as low back pain, pain and numbness in one or both lower limbs. The lumbar intervertebral disc is a “wearable part” of the entire spinal structure, like the tires of a bicycle, especially the lumbar 4/5 intervertebral disc. The occurrence of lumbar disc herniation can be attributed to the combined effect of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors of strain. The intrinsic factor is the degeneration of the lumbar intervertebral disc, and the extrinsic factor is no more than trauma and cold, with trauma including acute sprain and chronic strain, whose main pathological change is the rupture of the annulus fibrosus and protrusion of the nucleus pulposus, resulting in chemical irritation and physical compression of the nerve. Lumbar disc herniation can be morphologically divided into: (1) bulging: the nucleus pulposus does not break through the fibrous ring, and the fibrous ring as a whole is displaced and then compresses the adjacent tissue. This type is the lightest and most easily recovered. (2) Protrusion: the nucleus pulposus breaks through the fibrous ring, stimulating and compressing the surrounding tissues. This type is the most common and can be recovered by conservative treatment. (3) Prolapse: The herniated nucleus pulposus is large and only slightly attached to the tissue in situ, and the protrusion enters the spinal canal and sags or moves upward. This type is less common, and conservative treatment is more difficult. In case conservative treatment is ineffective, early surgery is recommended. According to the direction of the herniated nucleus pulposus, it can be divided into: (1) unilateral type: unilateral lower limb symptoms are produced, and this type is the most common. (2) Bilateral type: It produces bilateral lower extremity symptoms. (3) Central type: It can compress the cauda equina nerve, and symptoms such as perineal paralysis and urinary and fecal disorders can occur. A series of changes such as straightening of the physiological curvature of the lumbar spine, retroversion, scoliosis, narrowing of the intervertebral space, osteophytes at the vertebral body edges, and spinal stenosis can occur secondary to lumbar disc herniation. Due to the disruption of the physiological balance of the lumbar spine, it can also cause damage to the soft tissues around the lumbar region, such as interspinous ligament injury, gluteal epicutaneous nerve injury, pear-shaped muscle syndrome, sacroiliac joint injury and other lesions, causing many patients to have recurrent attacks and persistent treatment, which brings great pain to patients. It is the most common disease of lumbosacral lesions.