There are few things more painful than a herniated spinal disc. So painful, in fact, that it can have a significantly negative impact on one’s quality of life.

When a disc ruptures or is herniated, its gel-like, inner substance can protrude and leak into the area surrounding the disc and, thus, aggravate the spinal nerves. The discomfort can be so pronounced that you may think the only remedy is invasive surgery.

Fortunately, however, surgery is merely a last resort for a particularly severe herniated disc. Instead, most people can experience relief with non-surgical treatment options.

Here’s what you need to know.

Short-Term, Nonsurgical Treatment Solutions for Herniated Disc Pain

Depending on the location and severity of your herniated disc, your doctor may offer conservative treatment options that temporarily ease herniated disc symptoms. These measures include:

• An ice pack to reduce swelling: This can help provide relief if used soon after the onset of back pain but is less effective after 48 hours.
• Heat, or heat and ice, therapy: A combination of heat and ice is often the best short-term solution for herniated disc symptoms.
• Pain medication: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen can help relieve herniated disc pain and reduce inflammation, but long-term use of these medications has been linked to cardiovascular and gastrointestinal problems.
• Steroids:  Your doctor can prescribe an oral steroid to quell herniated disc pain, but, like NSAIDs, they should not be used long term.
• Muscle relaxants: If your herniated disc triggers painful muscle spasms, your doctor can prescribe a muscle relaxant to help.

Long-Term Non-Surgical Treatments for Herniated Disc Pain

Long-term relief from herniated discs is possible non-surgically if you employ the correct treatments under the guidance of an expert. Examples include:

• Physical therapy: Since spinal issues, including herniated discs, are often caused by weak back muscles, your doctor may prescribe physical therapy to help strengthen back muscles and reduce the strain on your spine. A physical therapist can also teach you better ways to perform certain physical activities, to avoid future herniated disc pain.
• Epidural injections: These shots contain powerful anti-inflammatory compounds, which can reduce swelling and relieve herniated disc pain.

While a combination of these non–surgical methods can help reduce herniated disc pain, it can take weeks, if not months, to establish an effective, personalized treatment plan. If you have a painful disc herniation and you don’t want surgery, or if surgery has failed to relieve your pain, you should consider a more effective nonsurgical treatment available at Alternative Disc Therapy: ozone-oxygen disc injection.

Patients from all over America and Canada come to our clinic for a same-day, outpatient procedure treatment that is proven to be as effective as surgery with none of the related risks and complications and no downtime.

The ozone-oxygen injection procedure, as performed by triple board-certified physician Dr. Warren J. Bleiweiss, not only treats disc herniations effectively, but also contributes to the long-term health of discs by:

• Stimulating the cells in the annulus ( the tough circular exterior of the intervertebral disc that surrounds the soft inner core) to increase in number, which has the potential to repair the tear that is present with all herniations
• Signaling your own body’s stem cells to mobilize to the area
• Improving the ability of the cells to cope with oxidative stress
• Decreasing inflammation
• Improving blood flow to the area
• Increasing lymphatic drainage

Unlike invasive spine surgery, the ozone-oxygen disc injection treatment does not cause major trauma to your body or irreversibly alter your anatomy, which can lead to future problems such as accelerated disc degeneration. As such, the ozone disc injection procedure can be safely repeated if necessary and its beneficial effects are accumulative.

Another key benefit is that ozone-oxygen disc injections are as successful in treating disc herniations as surgery without surgery related risks or side effects. Also, an ozone-oxygen disc injection procedure does not carry the risk of “failed back surgery syndrome” which develops over a 5 year period in more than 30% of people who undergo spine surgery.

Nonsurgical Treatment for Herniated Disc in Caldwell, New Jersey

Dr. Bleiweiss has been routinely performing ozone-oxygen disc injection procedures with reliably positive outcomes for more than a decade and, in fact, pioneered the procedure in North America. He has helped countless patients relieve their herniated disc pain with oxygen-ozone injection therapy, and he can do the same for you.

To learn more about this innovative, nonsurgical approach to herniated disc pain relief, call Alternative Disc Therapy today at (973) 403-3334 to arrange a consultation with Dr. Bleiweiss or schedule it online using our request an appointment form. We also offer telemedicine appointments for our patients’ convenience.