Our spine is the bone that enables us to stand upright and move. Our spine is made up of bones called ‘vertebrae’. Between our vertebrae, there is a support tissue called the ‘disc’, which is hard on the outside and filled with fibrous soft material inside. Discs are cushions between the bones that act as a suspension by absorbing the load on the spine.
They distribute the pressure on the vertebrae (during bending and heavy lifting) evenly from the center to the edge. At the same time, they prevent the two bone tissues from coming into contact with each other. Discs and spinal joints keep the spine mobile. A network of nerves called the spinal cord runs through the middle of the spine. Nerves from the spinal cord to the arms and legs pass right next to the vertebrae and discs. There are 7 vertebrae in our neck and 5 vertebrae in our waist.
As age progresses or after traumas, the inner soft part protrudes from small tears in the harder structure on the outer part of the disc. This overflowing substance loses its liquid feature and hardens. It begins to press on the vessels and nerves. Depending on the severity of the incident, when the fluid content of the discs between the vertebrae is discharged, the flexible part that should be between the discs will disappear, and the flexibility of the lumbar and neck vertebrae weakens. This picture is called “neck or lumbar hernia” (cervical or lumbar disc herniation) according to the spine section. This picture sometimes progresses rapidly and the patient feels severe pain. Sometimes it progresses more slowly and insidiously. If the disease progresses insidiously, even a simple action such as a sudden movement, coughing or sneezing can cause the main picture to emerge.
Approaches in classical medicine in low back and neck hernia are as follows:
Surgical intervention
Preventive treatment (Physical therapy and rehabilitation with drug therapy)
Acupuncture; It has gained a respectable place all over the world as a third method in the treatment of lumbar and neck hernia.
97% of neck and waist hernias are non-operational. Patients who do not require surgery are often treated with physical therapy, acupuncture and medications.
Neck and lumbar hernia are included in the group of diseases that can be treated with acupuncture, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO).
As the main hernia causes; a sedentary job and lifestyle, sitting down to work, obesity, starting sports without warming up, living in stress, wrong postures and sittings, wrong bending movements during heavy lifting, using a motor vehicle for a long time, keeping the neck motionless for a long time, looking at one point, tall Being overweight, wearing high heels, being overly stressed, straining or coughing, sitting in front of the computer and TV for a long time, not exercising, and being in an environment with cold air conditioners can be counted. Familial factors are also important in neck hernia. If the person has a neck hernia in his family, the chance of it occurring in himself increases. Blows to the neck and past accidents can also cause neck hernia.
Neck hernia is also seen as an occupational disease. Neck hernia is common among women working in domestic services, drivers, telephone operators, those who use vibrating devices such as drills, bankers and occupations that need to work with a computer for a long time.
The incidence is high between the ages of 30-50, which is considered the productive age.
Lumbar hernia is in the second place among the causes of loss of work after upper respiratory tract diseases.
Symptoms of neck hernia:
Dizziness, headache
Neck, back, arm, shoulder pain,
Numbness and loss of sensation in the arms,
Tingling in the arms,
Loss of strength in the arms,
Loss of feeling in the arms,
Morning fatigue, fatigue during the day,
Gas and bloating state of mind
Weakness, nervousness,
Frequent drop in blood pressure,
Ringing and buzzing in the ear
Signs of herniated disc:
There is unbearable pain in the lower back and / or legs. The pain increases with sitting, walking, coughing, laughing and sneezing. It decreases as you go.
Pain that radiates to the thigh, knee, leg and heel, and toes, called sciatic pain,
Limitation of movements,
limping
Numbness in the legs,
Loss of strength
Thinning of the leg
TREATMENT OF HERNIA WITH ACUPUNCTURE
Acupuncture treats and renews the body as a whole. It initiates repair, maintenance and repair activities in all cells in the body.
Strengthens all connective tissues in the body.
Causes blood supply to the tissues.
Acupuncture treatment can be easily applied to patients who have this problem due to its features such as having no side effects, easy application, no chemical active substances entering the patient’s body, no risks of long-term treatment, and fast and permanent effects.
Acupuncture treatment does not include the side effects of drug treatment and the risks of surgical treatments.
Acupuncture should not be thought of as a symptomatic treatment for pain relief only. The action taken; To treat the cause of the pain. It can completely correct the patient’s complaint in initial-level hernias, and it is successfully applied to patients who require surgery, both in the treatment of pain and in the recovery period after the surgery.
During the acupuncture treatment process, the patient can continue his normal life. It does not require absolute bed rest. Thus, loss of workforce is prevented.
The human body can be compared to a pharmaceutical factory that produces many biochemicals. It reproduces, stores and, when necessary, secretes the nutrients entering the body through many processes. Here, these natural medicines in the body are secreted into the body as much as the body needs and without side effects with the acupuncture method. However, in oral artificial drugs, it is not easy to adjust the required dose to the body. In addition, the side effects of these drugs can sometimes damage different organs and systems of the body. For example; While trying to relieve the patient’s low back pain, we may harm his stomach as a result of drugs -even though we don’t want to. In short, we can upset that delicate balance in the body. On the contrary, acupuncture establishes balances.
Effects of acupuncture in hernia treatment:
1. Relieves Pain: Acupuncture activates the painkillers in our body. Endorphin is a very powerful pain reliever specific to the body. Thus, the patient gets rid of the use of painkillers with the initiation of treatment. Maybe he will stop taking painkillers as the treatment progresses, even if he continues to use it with acupuncture treatment in the first days.
2. Relaxes the Muscles: Acupuncture activates the muscle relaxants in our body. It activates GABA by inserting an acupuncture needle into the representative Valium point on the auricle. Since GABA (Gamma-amino-butyric-acid) is a very strong muscle relaxant in the body, the patient can get rid of muscle spasm in the neck and lumbar region with acupuncture treatment without using muscle relaxants. Relaxation will increase as the spasm in the muscles dissolves.
3. Solves edema: Acupuncture activates edema solvents in our body. When we perform acupuncture on the representative adrenal gland point in the auricle, the body’s cortisone is secreted. Cortisone hormone has an edema-solving effect. Cortisone disperses the edema in the lumbar region, relaxes the region, and the pressure on the vessels and nerves due to edema can be eliminated. In this way, there will be a decrease in the pain that hits the arms and legs, if any.
4. Provides Psychological Comfort: Acupuncture activates the body’s calming substances. Acupuncture increases the body’s Serotonin and Endorphin levels, giving the person peace and relaxation during the treatment. Acupuncture changes the person’s response to stress by balancing the functioning of the limbic system, makes the body more resistant to stress and can eliminate the person’s worries and anxieties. In addition, with the application of acupuncture, the body is also psychologically relaxed. It gives a great relief effect to the patient who has psychologically collapsed due to the effect of waist or neck hernia. The fitness of the body increases day by day. It eliminates situations such as insomnia, morning fatigue, weakness and stress.
5. Repairs Hernia: The blood circulation increases locally and the repair mechanism starts to work. Degeneration (deterioration) in the structures that make up the disc stops and these structural elements begin to regenerate.
As the sessions progress, the structural defect there is improved by acupuncture treatment.
6. Strengthens the Muscles: The muscles around the spine (paravertebral) are strengthened, posture (posture) improves. The patient, who is bent or hunched over, stands upright. Strengthening these muscles also helps the hernia material to return.
Electroacupuncture and laser acupuncture treatment can also be added to speed up the treatment. In electroacupuncture treatment, an electric current is given to the needles attached to the body. This is usually done at the beginning of the treatment. It is a treatment that relieves the patient quickly by allowing the pain to pass more quickly. Laser acupuncture is a treatment for those with needle phobia.
Some pain relief begins in the first session. In chronic and long-term pain, a response usually begins after 4-5 sessions.
Acupuncture treatment can be applied every day in very painful conditions. But usually the treatment procedure is applied 2-3 times a week. Sessions last between 20-30 minutes. A total of 15-20 sessions are applied. Treatment is applied until the person’s complaints are completely gone.
