Why Exercise May Be The Worst Thing You Can Do For Your Herniated Disc

The medical world, insurance companies and even the media at large have been seriously misguided…and incorrect….in the appropriate use of “exercise” in the rehabilitation of disc related conditions of the back and neck.

Please listen closely:  If your pain is “discogenic” or originating from damage to one or more intervertebral discs which are compressed, you cannot exercise your way out of it.  Discs are not contractile tissue which can be strengthened by exercise.

In fact, most exercise is additionally “compressive” to disc tissue and can… and will… increase the internal pressure of the disc.  It is technically contra-indicated because of this fact.   Additional compression to an already compressed disc will most likely damage it further.  The standard abdominal strengtheners…. crunches and the like…. will “squish” the disc at it’s anterior region and raise intradiscal pressures as will most rotary type exercise even if it’s passive and applied by a doctor or therapist.  Rotary movements pull on the “Sharpey’s fibers ” which connect the top and bottom area of the disc to the vertebrae above and below. As you twist or rotate the area, these tendinous fibers pull on the disc and can increase the interior stress on the disc.   Thus, these types of activities need to be avoided early on in these conditions.

Similarly, activities like walking, jogging, running, stairmaster, etc… tend to be compressive in nature as the heel strikes the ground or this hips flex up and down.

So, when should exercise be instituted?

Not until the disc inflammation has begun to ease and the healing process has started.  Typically, we will not exercise a patient until they’ve been reasonably symptom-free for at least 1 to 4 weeks depending on the case.   Otherwise, re-weakening of the disc wall and aggravations of the condition are highly likely often setting the patient back weeks, if not months, in their rehabilitative process.  Also, a rehabilitation program must include three-dimensional exercise to strengthen the smaller intrinsic muscles usually neglected by most active regimens.

In summary – don’t exercise too early in your care process and don’t try to exercise you pain away with a herniated disc.  It won’t work.

Want to find out if you’re a candidate. Give us a call at  Waterfront Spine Institute for a no charge consultation  201-840-1980 or go to  www.waterfrontspinerehab.com for more info.

Thank you so much for visiting my site. I encourage you to leave your questions and comments below. And for more information on Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression please fill out the form to the right or give us a call at 201-840-1980

About Dr. Podell, DC: Dr. Dave Podell, DC has been in active practice for over 25 years and has seen countless numbers of the most difficult and previously failed cases.   As the clinic director of the Watefront Spine Institute in Edgewater, New Jersey, just minutes from the GW Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel and midtown Manhattan, Dr. Podell, DC runs one of the Northeast’s most advanced and evolutionary multi-disciplinary clinics for the treatment of disc herniation and associated ailments.   Dr. Podell, DC sits on the advisory board of Spinal Aid Centers Of America and trains other health care providers in the science and art of non surgical spinal decompression in his Edgewater facility.  He continues to train and advance his clinic’s state of the art spinal rehabilitation programs and is known nationwide in his field.  He is additionally certified in neurodiagnostic evaluations, Spinal Manipulation Under Anasthesia and Disability Impairment rating.  In addition to NSSD, he had received advanced training in Spinal Chiropractic Biophysics, Active Therapeutic Techniques, MedX and Spine Force Spinal Rehabilitation, Extremity manipulation, orthopedics and neurology.