A herniated disk can affect how you're able to perform everyday tasks and can
cause severe pain that influences most everything you do. You and your doctor
will make decisions about how to best treat your herniated disk, sometimes
called ruptured disk or slipped disk. No single treatment choice is right for
everyone. Your decisions will be based on a number of factors, including the
nature of your condition, the degree to which it's affecting your lifestyle and
the level of pain you're experiencing.
Think of your doctor and you as partners in making decisions about how to
treat your herniated disk. You'll want to carefully consider all your options
and the risks and benefits of each in relation to your lifestyle and what's
important to you. The information in this decision guide is intended to help you
understand the various treatment options and help decide which treatment is best
for you.
You can see and hear directly from people who made different treatment
choices, as well as from the director of the Mayo Clinic Spine Center,
Rochester, Minn. This guide also frames key questions to help you in this
important decision-making process.
This guide is designed for people with a herniated lumbar disk, not a
herniated cervical disk. Lumbar disk herniation occurs in the lower (lumbar)
region of the spine and occurs more frequently than neck (cervical) herniation.
Though some diagnosis techniques and treatments for herniated cervical disks are
similar to those for lumbar disks, this guide is designed for people with
herniated lumbar disks.
Take about 30 minutes or more to go through this information in sequence by
following the links at the left or at the bottom of each page. This provides
proper context and helps you understand more about herniated disks, your
treatment options, why other people made the choices they did, and the pros and
cons to consider in making your decision.
