Lumbar disc herniation is a common clinical condition in orthopedic surgery, accounting for about 20% of the primary causes of low back pain. The most significant symptom of this disease is sciatica, mostly severe pain, lingering and easy to recur, mostly in middle-aged and young people aged 20 to 50 years old, which is recognized as one of the intractable diseases in both East and West, and is an important factor affecting social development and consuming a large amount of medical resources every year. Since the disease was discovered and reported in 1934, people have gradually deepened their understanding and accumulated rich medical experience, and the treatment has gradually transitioned from advocating surgery to non-surgery. Especially in China, various non-surgical treatments have been highly appreciated by most patients because of their wide range of cases, the diversity of alternative methods and the effectiveness of clinical treatment, as well as the advantages of being “simple, convenient, effective and inexpensive”. At present, with the improvement of people’s material living standard, their understanding of “health” is getting deeper and deeper, and they have higher requirements for “quality of life”. People want to learn more ways to maintain their health and get timely and effective treatment when they suffer from back pain. At the same time, people are not only concerned about whether a treatment is effective, but also whether it is harmful. For this reason, this places a higher demand on the clinical medical staff of the times. In this context, for clinical workers engaged in professional low back pain prevention and treatment, the task is indeed historically formidable. As we enter the new century, traditional Chinese medicine has received renewed attention both at home and abroad. The theory of “prevention is more important than cure” advocated by TCM still has wide guiding significance. At present, many Chinese medicine hospitals in China are actively carrying out research and practice of “treating the untreated disease”, the core idea of which is “prevention before the disease”, “prevention after the disease” and “prevention after the disease”. The core ideas are “prevention before illness”, “prevention after disease” and “prevention after disease”. I would like to take advantage of a corner of your newspaper to introduce some knowledge about the prevention of lumbar disc herniation, so as to help you further raise your awareness, strive for “doctor-patient cooperation” and improve the prevention and treatment effect. Disc structure and function The normal intervertebral disc is composed of the cartilage end plate, the fibrous ring and the nucleus pulposus. The cartilage end plate is 1 at the top and bottom of the vertebral body, and its average thickness is 1 mm. its role is to bear the pressure and protect the vertebral body, as long as the cartilage end plate remains intact, the vertebral body will not be resorbed due to pressure. There are two layers inside and outside the fibrous ring. The outer layer consists of collagen fibers and the inner layer consists of fibrocartilage. The anterior and lateral portions of the annulus fibrosus are the thickest, almost twice as thick as the posterior portion. The annulus fibrosus is very strong and is tightly attached to the cartilage endplates to maintain the stability of the spine. The nucleus pulposus is an elastic, soft, semi-liquid gel-like mass located in the center of the disc, which accounts for about 50% to 60% of the disc surface. In children, the nucleus pulposus is composed almost entirely of loose fibrocartilage and a large amount of collagenous material. With age, the collagenous material is gradually replaced by fibrocartilage. The water content is 75% to 90% of the total amount of the nucleus pulposus, and the various components combine to form a three-dimensional reticular gel-like structure of the nucleus pulposus. The nucleus pulposus is plastic and can change its position and shape due to external pressure. The intervertebral disc is a special structure located between two adjacent vertebral bodies and is an important part of the entire spine, with the function of maintaining the height and flexibility of the spine, as well as buffering various stresses and absorbing shocks. As the lumbar intervertebral disc generally begins to degenerate after about 30 years of age, the toughness of its fibrous ring is reduced, so improper posture and lumbar force can cause it to form an annular or radial fracture, and the nucleus pulposus protrudes along the ruptured fibrous ring under greater pressure, compressing the nerve roots and producing the common symptoms of lumbar pain. Preventive measures The onset of lumbar disc herniation is mainly based on the degeneration of the intervertebral disc itself, some cases may have trauma, cold and other causative factors, but most patients have no special etiology and may develop gradually or suddenly, thus making the relevant preventive measures lack of relevance and initiative. Anatomically speaking, the intervertebral disc itself has no blood vessels, and the nucleus pulposus is mainly nourished by the permeability of the cartilage end plate and the blood vessels around the annulus fibrosus. Therefore, we should pay attention to the following aspects of life and work in the usual study: ① sedentary ambulation is the main way of work and life of modern people, this posture for a long time to increase the internal pressure of the intervertebral disc itself, reducing the elasticity of the muscles of the back and emergency capacity, will certainly be back pain, and even suffer from lumbar disc herniation; ② driving even in China has long been no fashion, driving Travel in the convenience of people at the same time is quietly endangering our lumbar spine, and even the entire spine, the reason is that the road bumps and motor low-frequency vibration will increase the load on the intervertebral discs, while affecting the infiltration of intervertebral disc nutrition, plus each time you step on the brakes will increase the internal pressure of the intervertebral discs, if you take into account the sedentary driving, our lumbar spine will suffer great damage when driving for a long time. Therefore, for driving a family should try to correct posture, reduce vibration, intermittent rest, not fatigue driving. ③Smoking affects the transport of body fluid solutes, which can reduce the nutrient input and waste discharge of the intervertebral disc; arteriosclerosis due to diabetes can affect the blood circulation of the arteries around the disc and reduce the metabolism of the intervertebral disc tissue, all of which can cause degeneration of the intervertebral disc, so quitting smoking and actively treating diabetes cannot be ignored. ④ Sudden or continuous exposure to cold can lead to contraction of the lumbar back muscles, and sudden or violent muscle contraction can sometimes have a longitudinal extrusion effect on the intervertebral discs, leading to lumbar disc herniation or causing recurrence of already cured sciatica. Therefore, avoiding cold in daily life or work is also special attention, such as the central air conditioning in the office, car air conditioning, wading in the rain, suddenly sitting in the cold equipment, cold after exercise, sudden changes in temperature, etc. should be careful. ⑤ The intervertebral disc fiber ring is prone to fracture when subjected to overload stress, and repeated injuries can aggravate the fracture. Therefore, when bending over to carry heavy objects, the pressure in the intervertebral disc will suddenly increase sharply, easily leading to lumbar disc herniation. In order to reduce the weight of the spine, when carrying heavy objects should try to squat and adopt a straight waist and hip flexion position to shorten the moment and reduce the stress on the intervertebral disc. (6) After a long period of bed rest body fluids infiltrate into the intervertebral disc, resulting in an increase in fluid pressure within the disc, and if you sit up and stand up at this time, the disc pressure will suddenly increase, also prone to disc protrusion. Therefore, before you get up in the morning, you should lie on your side for a short time to reduce the fluid pressure and avoid a sudden increase in disc pressure when you get up. In addition, if you accidentally suffer from lumbar pain or sciatica, you should promptly rest in bed and go to the hospital to receive a medical examination and relevant imaging examination by a professional doctor for early diagnosis and targeted professional treatment, so as to obtain satisfactory recovery.