The difference between lumbar muscle strain and lumbar disc herniation mainly includes the cause of formation, symptoms and imaging manifestations. 1. Causes: lumbar muscle strain is aseptic inflammation of the lumbar muscle fibrous tissue, which is mainly due to the prolonged fatigue of the lumbar muscles or acute lumbar sprain, resulting in lumbar muscle edema or pain; while lumbar disc herniation is a rupture of the fibrous ring of the lumbar intervertebral disc, and the protrusion of the nucleus pulposus compresses the dural sac or the nerve root and causes the corresponding symptom. 2. Symptoms: The symptoms of lumbar muscle strain are mainly the pain of the muscles on both sides of the lumbar back, which can be unilateral or bilateral, and the location of the pain is relatively limited; while lumbar disc herniation is mainly the pain in the middle of the lumbosacral region, and the compression of the nerves will lead to the numbness of buttocks and lower limbs, and in severe cases, there will be the weakness of the lower limbs, and the performance of the dysfunction. 3. Imaging manifestations: most of the imaging manifestations of patients with lumbar muscle strain are edema, thickening or atrophy of lumbar muscles, while the imaging of patients with lumbar disc herniation can see obvious dehydration of lumbar discs, disc or nucleus pulposus protruding, and even edema and compression of the dural sac or nerve root.