Is it useful to hang on the horizontal bar for lumbar disc herniation? What kind of sports are not suitable for me?

Author: Tang Hai, Chief Physician, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University

Deputy Director of the Osteoporosis Group of the Orthopedic Branch of the Chinese Medical Association

Reviewer: Li Jun, deputy chief physician, Peking University First Hospital

Lumbar disc herniation is a very common disease in clinical practice. Its main clinical manifestation is low back pain, accompanied by some neurological symptoms in the lower limbs, and some people even have difficulty walking.

When it comes to this disease, many people have various questions, such as how to treat early lumbar disc herniation? How does interspinous process distraction treat lumbar disc herniation? How to prevent lumbar disc herniation?

Let’s take a look together.

1. How to treat early lumbar disc herniation?

When it comes to the treatment of herniated disc, many patients wait until they have no more options before considering surgery. Why do they think this way?

This is because he was afraid that the operation would touch the nerves or spinal cord and cause paralysis, which is something the patient does not want to see.

In the early stages, lumbar disc herniation may not require surgery, but conservative treatment should be actively carried out.

In the early stages, intervertebral disc herniation is caused by the destruction and rupture of the annulus fibrosus, which causes the protrusion of the nucleus pulposus and leads to compression of the nerves and spinal cord. Appropriate traction and medication can allow the intervertebral disc or nucleus pulposus to retract, temporarily stopping the compression of the nerves and spinal cord and alleviating the symptoms.

Normally, patients can choose to hang on the horizontal bar at home. What is the purpose of hanging on the horizontal bar? In fact, it is to stretch the lumbar spine. It is very simple. Just hold the horizontal bar and lift your feet off the ground. Stretch for a while every day. The stretching time should be based on your comfort. Sometimes it can also achieve a good therapeutic effect.

Figure 1 Original copyright image, no permission to reprint

Of course, there are some patients who do not respond well. In this case, we can choose to use some simple methods, that is, surgical treatment without destroying the original anatomical structure. For example, interspinous process fusion distraction fixation, also known as internal spinal traction, will have better therapeutic effects.

For doctors, it is to choose a surgical plan that can benefit the patient the most and cause the least damage. Therefore, we should actively treat it and not wait until it becomes a very serious problem.

2. How does interspinous process fusion and distraction fixation treat lumbar disc herniation?

The intervertebral disc is an elastic structure located between two vertebrae.

Lumbar interspinous fusion distraction fixation is to insert an interspinous distraction fusion device composed of two Z-shaped nickel-titanium alloy plates between the posterior spinous processes of the lumbar spine.

This type of fusion device can maintain the height, width and height of the lumbar intervertebral foramen in a relatively stable and long-lasting manner. After the intervertebral space is retracted, the ligaments will also be straightened, allowing the protruding intervertebral disc to retract to a certain extent, and even prompting it to slowly return to its original position.

Therefore, the protruding intervertebral disc will no longer compress the nerves here, while meeting the movement requirements of the lumbar spine in six directions: flexion, extension, scoliosis, and rotation.

This type of surgery is a new concept that has been used in clinical practice since 2014. Compared with most surgeries, it is less traumatic, involves less bleeding, and is safer.

Figure 2 Original copyright image, no permission to reprint

Relatively speaking, it can achieve a kind of "long-term in vivo traction", which not only does not require the removal of the intervertebral disc, but also does not require the destruction of too much bone. It only needs to destroy some ligaments and the small articular process on one side of the responsible segment.

Generally speaking, the operation takes about half an hour and the patient can get up and move around the next day, which alleviates many patients' worries and concerns about the operation.

3. How to prevent lumbar disc herniation?

Because we know that lumbar disc herniation is caused by various pressures. If we want to prevent it, we must find a way to relieve this pressure.

For example, when you are doing heavy physical labor, or need to rotate your waist, or need to carry something heavy, you can wear a waist apron or a brace to relieve and disperse the pressure.

In addition, at the appropriate time, we can do some extension exercises, so that the intervertebral disc can move forward instead of backward. If we do this kind of exercise frequently, we can achieve the purpose of prevention. For example, Xiaoyanfei, the elderly can do five-point support. In addition, swimming can make the lumbar spine extend backward. Therefore, doing these sports frequently to increase the strength of our muscles is actually a very effective prevention method.

Of course, some other sports, such as playing golf, which requires a relatively large rotation of the lumbar spine, and sit-ups, which require excessive lumbar bending, are not recommended for people with intervertebral disc problems.