Over time, the herniation tends to shrink and you may experience partial or complete pain relief. In most cases, if neck and/or arm pain is going to resolve it will do so in about 6 weeks.
A herniated disk is also known as a slipped, ruptured or bulging disk. It's one of the most common causes of neck, back and leg pain. Most of the time, herniated disks heal on their own or with simple home-care measures.
In most cases cervical disc herniations improve with time and symptomatic treatment. This can take 6-12 weeks. Improvement is usually seen within 2-3 weeks and full recovery in the ensuing 2-3 months.
Most (80-90%) cases involving bulging or herniated discs will heal within 2-4 months, depending on the severity of the injury, as well as your age and overall health.
In some cases, surgery may be required to fix a herniated disc. However, bulging discs more often heal on their own over time, and surgery isn't needed. Your doctor can perform a neurological exam to test your muscle strength, reflexes, and walking ability.
Signs Your Herniated Disc is Healing
However, the first symptom that will reveal that you are on the way to healing is that the sharp, shooting pain in your legs or arms will go away, followed by some muscle weakness in that nerve path. However, if you have numbness, it might take longer to heal.
Treatment with rest, pain medication, spinal injections, and physical therapy is the first step to recovery. Most people improve in 6 weeks and return to normal activity. If symptoms continue, surgery may be recommended.
Disc bulges are not permanent. The disc is a fluid filled structure and therefore has the capacity to heal, resolve and be re-absorbed.
The average amount of time it takes for a herniated disk to heal is four to six weeks, but it can get better within a few days depending on how severe the herniation was and where it occurred. The biggest factor in healing a herniated disk is time, because most often it will resolve on its own.
If the C5 and C6 discs are bulging, they only cause pain about 50 percent of the time, but this condition can lead to a straightened neck; this leads to tension on the spine, known to cause numbness, pain, and tingling throughout the upper body.
Physical therapy and exercises can help treat a bulging disc in the neck. This will include a mixture of gentle neck stretches and exercises to strengthen the neck and surrounding muscles. A range of other treatments, such as pain medication and surgery, are also available.
Cervical disc herniation is a common cause of neck pain in adults. The severity of the disease can range from mild to severe, and even life-threatening.
Someone seeking traditional medical treatment for C5-C6 disc bulging is often looking to remedy the pain and discomfort disrupting their daily life. This treatment will likely involve being prescribed medication such as steroids for inflammation, injections, physical therapy, disc surgery, or spinal-fusion surgery.
When a Cervical Herniated Disc Is Serious. Rarely, a cervical herniated disc's signs and symptoms may gradually feel worse rather than eventually stabilizing and resolving on its own. If a cervical nerve root remains pinched or inflamed, tingling, numbness, and/or weakness may progress in the arm.
The good news is that most cases of lumbar disc herniation do not require surgery! Long-standing evidence suggests that pain associated with a herniated disc often diminishes without surgical treatment within 4-6 months.
Most disc bulges resolve in 6-8 weeks, but it can take longer depending on the size of the bulge (i.e. if the bulge is hitting the nerve behind it like described above).
Why Do Herniated Discs Take So Long to Heal? “Discs in adults typically have poor blood supply,” Dr. Sokunbi notes, “and sometimes don't have the ability to heal completely.” Most often, herniated discs in healthy patients heal quickly.
Disc sequestration occurs when the inner disc material comes out of the shell altogether and fully detaches from the spinal disc. This is serious and often requires a surgical procedure called a discectomy.
After 2 years: 76 people out of 100 who had surgery had no symptoms or almost no symptoms. This means that 24 still had some symptoms. 69 people out of 100 who had non-surgical treatment had no symptoms or almost no symptoms.
The herniated portion of the disc contains water and over time, your body will absorb the water which will cause the herniated disc to shrink in size.
Massage therapy can offer relief of bulging disc by treating the condition at its roots. Very often, imbalances in the skeletal structure, such as being “stuck” in a side-tilted position, may predispose one toward this injury, and/or result from it.
Most people with a herniated disk don't need surgery. Rest and other treatments should start to improve your symptoms within 4 to 6 weeks.
The pain from a herniated disc usually is worse when you are active and gets better when you are resting. Coughing, sneezing, sitting, driving, and bending forward may make the pain worse. The pain gets worse when you make these movements because there is more pressure on the nerve.