What is lumbar disc herniation?

Lumbar disc herniation (also known as nucleus pulposus herniation or lumbar disc rupture) is one of the more common lumbar diseases in clinical practice. It is mainly due to the degenerative changes of the lumbar intervertebral disc (nucleus pulposus, annulus fibrosus and cartilage plate), especially because the lumbar nucleus pulposus has different degrees of degenerative changes, the disc annulus fibrosus ruptures, and the nucleus pulposus protrudes from the rupture in the posterior or vertebral canal, causing the adjacent tissues, such as spinal nerve roots and spinal cord, to suffer irritation or compression, resulting in a series of symptoms such as low back pain, numbness and pain in one or both lower limbs. The main pathological changes in lumbar disc herniation are irritation and compression from rupture of the annulus fibrosus and protrusion of the nucleus pulposus. The herniated nucleus pulposus is mostly prolapsed behind the spinal canal and can be classified according to the direction of protrusion: 1. 2. Bilateral type, mostly producing bilateral lower extremity symptoms. 3. Central type, which can compress the cauda equina nerve, showing symptoms such as dysfunction of the two bowels and perineal paralysis. The lumbar disc herniation can be followed by 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 edge, and spinal stenosis. Due to the disruption of the physiological balance of the lumbar spine, it can also cause soft tissue around the lumbar region, such as interspinous ligament injury, gluteal epicondylar nerve injury, pear-shaped muscle syndrome, sacroiliac joint injury and other lesions, causing many patients to have recurrent attacks and causing great pain to patients.