Herniated discs is a pathological condition when a rip or tear in the outer ring of the intervertebral disc that permits the soft part of the disc to stick out of the inside of the disc. The other names that are associated with the herniated discs are ruptured discs and prolapsed disc. If you have heard the term slipped disc and thought it was the same as a herniated disc then you would be mistaken, they are two different things. Other terminology that are so closely related but not the same as a herniated disc are disc protrusion, Sciatica, disc disease, degenerative disc disease and black disc.

Slipped disc and herniated discs are different in the aspect that the disc that is located between two vertebrae is so tight that they cannot slip, they cannot even move. The disc is grown together with the vertebrae next to them, they can be squeezed, stretched, ripped, torn and herniated but cannot slip at all.

The herniated disc can happen to any disc located in the spine area. Two most common forms of herniated discs are cervical and lumbar. The lumbar herniated disc is more common of the two. It can cause lower back pain and leg pain often called Sciatica. Lumbar herniation happens about 20 times more often the cervical or neck hernination. The cervical discs become affected only about 10% of the time and the discs located in the upper back only are affected about 3% of the time.

There are three main types of herniation: Cervical, Thoracic and the Lumbar. The cervical herniated discs usually  happen in the neck between the sixth and seventh cervical vertebras. The symptoms can affect the shoulder, the neck, arm, hand and back of the skull.   The Thoracic disc herination is very rare in this area. The thoracic disc herination can be the same as a lumbar and cervical making it harder to diagnose. The Lumbar herniation typically  happens in the lower back between the fifth vertebrae and the sacrum. This can affect the buttocks, thighs and the pain may travel to the foot or the toe.

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