Mr. Li is engaged in computer work, just in his prime, his career is booming, but every day need to sit in front of the computer 7-8 hours, some time ago often feel lumbar pain, especially after sitting for a long time more obvious, then did not care, thought too tired, rest will be good. Once, when bending down to pick up something accidentally flashed the waist, that is, felt lumbago with the left lower limb rear paralysis pain, walking are difficult. He went to the hospital and was advised to have a CT examination, which revealed a herniated disc in the lumbar 4/5 vertebrae, compressing the left nerve root. The doctor prescribed some medicine and asked him to go home and rest in bed, which Mr. Li did. After a few days of medication and bed rest, Mr. Lee felt better and was busy again because of his work. But soon after a business trip in a long-distance car, again feel the waist and left leg pain, and more serious than last time, even the left foot big toe feel powerless. After examination, the doctor considered it more serious and recommended hospitalization for surgery. Mr. Li was worried that the risk of surgery was too great, and he heard people say that a certain person was paralyzed after surgery, so he was even more reluctant to do the surgery. He also heard that there is a Chinese medicine on the market that can dissolve the herniated disc and achieve the purpose of curing the herniated disc without surgery. Although the cost of the medicine is not cheap, but because it does not require surgery, Mr. Li bought a course of medicine, according to the instructions to eat a month. A month later the pain in the left lower limb reduced a little, but the left big toe still can not lift, Mr. Li worried, and went to the hospital to do a CT examination, CT suggests that there is still a herniated disc compressing the nerve. And the doctor said after the examination, although the pain has been reduced, but because the nerve pressure for too long, has been significantly damaged, if not operated, the future toe may not be able to rise. And because the delay is too long, even now surgery, only 70-80% hope to recover, recovery time will take at least 4 months. Mr. Li then regretted it. So can Chinese medicine dissolve the herniated disc or not? Before answering this question, let’s understand what is a herniated disc. The intervertebral disc consists of the outer wrapped fibrous ring, the middle nucleus pulposus and the upper and lower end plates. The lumbar disc herniation we usually talk about is actually caused by strain or trauma resulting in the rupture of the fibrous ring and the protrusion of the nucleus pulposus to compress the nerve (see left), not the entire disc protrusion. The medical community has now recognized that the herniated nucleus pulposus cannot be retracted, not to mention conservative treatment, even in surgery, it is very difficult for the doctor to press the herniated nucleus pulposus back with force, and since the annulus fibrosus has ruptured, even if it is barely pressed back, it will still protrude again as soon as it is weighted. But many people will ask, I have a lumbar disc herniation without surgery, through conservative treatment is good, how can say that the protruding disc is not reset? In fact, more than 90% of patients with lumbar disc herniation can have their symptoms relieved through conservative treatment. The reason why their symptoms are relieved or even cured is not that the herniated discs are returned or dissolved, but due to the following mechanisms: bed rest, traction and other methods can reduce the pressure on the lumbar discs, release muscle spasm, expand the intervertebral foramen and reduce the pressure on the nerve roots; acupuncture and drugs can improve local circulation by activating blood circulation, reducing inflammation and swelling, etc.; as for massage techniques, they cannot make the herniated medulla As for the massage techniques, they cannot bring back the herniated nucleus pulposus, but through some techniques, they can correct the scoliosis of the lumbar spine and the misalignment of the small joints, restore the normal sequence, relieve the muscle spasm, adjust the relationship between the position of the intervertebral disc and the nerve root, open up the intervertebral foramen, and relieve the pressure; the above methods can eventually promote the inflammation and edema of the nerve root to subside, thus reducing the symptoms. As for individual drugs on the market claiming to dissolve the nucleus pulposus and completely replace surgery, it is pure nonsense. After a period of time, the nucleus pulposus can gradually lose water and become smaller, thus reducing the pressure on the nerve, but it will not disappear completely, much less be dissolved. In many patients, after the symptoms are relieved or even disappeared, the prominent nucleus pulposus can still be seen on CT or MRI examination, which is not much different from the time of onset. The Chinese medicines on the market that claim to dissolve the nucleus pulposus are actually composed of some common blood circulation herbs, which have a certain therapeutic effect on some patients with mild lumbar disc herniation, and the general salesmen often teach patients some health care knowledge when marketing the drugs, such as more bed rest and less sitting, and bed rest itself is one of the best ways to treat lumbar disc herniation, so some The reason for the relief is the same as explained above, but it does not dissolve the herniated nucleus pulposus. “If oral drugs can dissolve the nucleus pulposus, won’t the muscles, nerves and blood vessels be dissolved earlier? The only thing that is recognized in the medical community as being more mature enough to dissolve the nucleus is collagenase, and it is also necessary to inject collagenase directly into the herniated disc through minimally invasive surgery in order to dissolve the nucleus. Even so, it is not possible to completely dissolve the nucleus pulposus, and it is only applicable to a portion of patients with herniated discs, in addition to complications such as nerve root irritation, infection, and risk of puncture. From the above, we can see that the “herbal nucleus dissolution” claimed by the business is actually just a hype, and the ultimate goal of the business is to sell expensive drugs and make huge profits, because the corresponding blood circulation drugs may only cost 20-30 yuan/box in the hospital. That has a lumbar disc herniation, in the end, how to treat it? In recent years, due to the popularity of computers and cars, more and more people are working in a seated position, and the incidence of lumbar disc herniation is increasing. Once you have a herniated lumbar disc, the herniated nucleus pulposus is difficult to retract, so it is really troublesome to treat and easy to recoil. So the best way is to prevent and avoid getting a lumbar disc herniation. It is best to get up and move around for about 40 minutes to avoid sitting for a long time, and it is best to pad a soft pillow at the back of the waist to keep the physiological convexity of the lumbar vertebrae and avoid sitting with the waist bent. Usually less bending to carry heavy objects, such as really need to carry heavy objects, it is best to straight waist squatting position to hold up. Usually keep enough sleep time, because the intervertebral disc in the lying position when the pressure is the least, but also the easiest to absorb nutrients. And it is best to sleep on a harder mattress, avoid sleeping on a soft mattress, and a hard board bed is not advisable. The normal human lumbar spine is not straight, but slightly curved forward, hard bed can not make the back of the waist to get good support, many people sleep after the hard bed, still feel back pain. For patients who have got lumbar disc herniation, in addition to the above health care, bed time should be as long as possible, usually also need to strengthen the lumbar back muscle exercise, regularly wear lumbar circumference protection, and under the guidance of a specialist to choose some conservative treatment methods. For some conservative treatment is ineffective, more serious lumbar intervertebral disc herniation patients, it is necessary to surgery, because if the nerve is pressed for too long, it will degenerate and necrosis, just like the case of Mr. Li, the nerve is pressed for too long after the irreversible damage, and finally even after surgery, recovery is still difficult. In recent years, with the progress of medicine, surgery for lumbar disc herniation is becoming less and less traumatic, with fast recovery, precise efficacy, safety and reliability, and very few complications, so patients do not need to worry at all.