Nerve Pain from Disc Impingement: Acupuncture Can Help

As you get older, you’re more prone to back problems, specifically disc impingement or herniated discs, which can cause continuous pain and numbness. Discs are the cushions between vertebrae in your spine. These little discs do a lot of work: They stop the vertebrae from grinding together and help provide flexibility.

The problem is that discs harden as part of the natural aging process. When you’re a kid, they’re much spongier, but as they get less and less pliable with age, the possibility for injury increases.

Would you try three weeks of acupuncture to avoid surgery?

Injuries to spinal discs can cause them to swell or bulge. That’s where the pain and numbness come from. The swollen disc, or the inflamed soft tissue that surrounds it, often impinges on a nerve, which can cause radiating pain or numbness. You may have heard this referred to as radiculopathy by your doctor.

Sciatica is a good example of pain caused by disc impingement. Pain travels all the way from your lower back down your leg—and it’s relentless. Stretching, yoga, deep breathing, pain medications: These strategies can contribute to temporary alleviation of pain—but usually don’t provide any permanent resolution. A lot of people with this kind of chronic back pain resort to surgery for relief.

We at Peninsula Acupuncture understand that chronic back pain—or pain radiating from the back—can upset every aspect of a person’s life. And we also know that undergoing acupuncture is more cost effective and less disruptive than going under the knife. 

Unless the cause of the issue is mechanical, meaning there is a piece of the disc sitting on the nerve root, acupuncture can treat issues caused by disc impingement. Sometimes a single session will make a significant difference, but usually the effects of acupuncture are cumulative over a cycle of sessions lasting about three weeks.

Contact us for a consultation and to set up your first appointment.