What are the main causes of low back and leg pain? Herniated disc and intra-disc dysfunction are the main causes. Lumbar muscle strain, trauma, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and congenital malformation can all lead to low back pain. Ischemia and hypoxia of the intervertebral disc and the peripheral nerve roots, sterile chemical inflammation and mechanical compression can cause lumbar and leg pain in patients, which is mainly located in the lower back and can sometimes radiate to the lower extremities. The most common aggravating factor is exertion. What are the main occupational groups with low back pain? The incidence is higher in young and strong people, and the incidence is higher in men than in women. Generally, people who are too obese or too thin are prone to disc herniation; industrial workers, farmers, drivers and athletes with high labor intensity are the groups with high incidence of disc herniation, and with the accelerated pace of information technology and work life, the incidence of brain workers such as office workers, students and civil servants is on the rise. Poor study and labor posture is an important cause. What are the tests needed for low back pain? In addition to careful examination by the doctor, X-ray, CT or MR examination of the spine is necessary, sometimes combined with the patient’s medical history and other tests to rule out causes of low back pain other than the locomotor system. What are the minimally invasive treatment options for herniated discs? With the increasing demand for treatment and advances in medicine, minimally invasive treatment has increasingly replaced traditional surgery as the trend in medical development. With certainty of indications, treatments such as fine needle puncture for disc ozone injection, laser vaporization and decompression, radiofrequency ablation and aspiration are used to efficiently reduce disc pressure and often achieve good results. What is ozone? Ozone is a light blue gas that is extremely chemically unstable and has a strong oxidizing power, an effect that can be accomplished instantaneously with no permanent residue. Ozone can severely damage structures within the nucleus pulposus, but has minimal effect on the nerve roots, spinal cord and muscles. What is the principle of ozone treatment for disc disease? It consists mainly of oxidation of proteoglycans in the nucleus pulposus (which reduces the osmotic pressure in the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral disc while decreasing water and shrinking the nucleus pulposus), destruction of nucleus pulposus cells, anti-inflammatory effects (antagonizing the inflammatory response, dilating blood vessels and reducing edema around the nerve roots) and analgesic effects. What is the principle of laser and radiofrequency treatment of disc disease? Percutaneous laser disc decompression refers to the rapid reduction of intravertebral disc pressure through high-energy laser vaporization of some of the water in the nucleus pulposus tissue, relieving and eliminating the compression of the sciatic nerve, thereby achieving treatment. Radiofrequency therapy uses thermal energy to destroy the injurious sensory endings within the intervertebral disc for therapeutic purposes while causing the disc to contract, coagulate or vaporize for decompression. What are the advantages of minimally invasive interventional treatment of disc disease? The advantages of interventional minimally invasive treatment of disc disease are: 1. mature technology, short operation time, simple operation; 2. local anesthesia, minimal trauma; 3. less patient pain, fast recovery; 4. short hospital stay, even outpatient treatment, fewer complications, less cost, no surgical scar formation. What is the efficacy of minimally invasive interventional treatment for intervertebral disc disease? According to foreign data, the efficiency of ozone treatment alone for disc lesions is 66%-86%, and the combination of laser or radiofrequency treatment can significantly improve the efficacy to 85.3-100% depending on the lesion. What are the precautions to be taken after minimally invasive treatment for low back and leg pain? After treatment, wear an elastic lumbar brace and return to the ward in a wheelchair to rest in bed for 1 day, and rest for 1 week. What kind of patients with low back pain are suitable for minimally invasive treatment? Patients with clinical manifestations of low back pain and/or sciatica, obvious signs of nerve root compression, no or mild neurological deficits, who have failed to respond to non-surgical treatment for 8-12 weeks, and those who have failed low back surgery syndrome after surgical treatment can choose minimally invasive interventional treatment. How can patients with low back pain perform functional exercises? Correction of poor study and labor posture and strong back muscles can prevent lumbar back injury and reduce the load on the lumbar spine.