Can I do push-ups if I have a herniated disc?

The initial symptoms of lumbar disc herniation generally cause paralysis and pain in the lower limb nerves. If patients do not take it seriously and allow it to develop, it will further cause atrophy of the lower limb nerves and muscles. In severe cases, it may even lead to paralysis. This is a very serious matter. Patients with lumbar disc herniation need to pay attention to many things if they want to exercise. So, is it okay to do push-ups if you have a herniated disc? Let me explain it to you now.

It is definitely possible, but it is best not to do it, otherwise it will only make your condition worse. Lumbar disc herniation, also known as lumbar disc fibrosis or nucleus pulposus herniation, is one of the common lumbar diseases in clinical practice. The intervertebral disc is composed of three parts: the nucleus pulposus, the annulus fibrosus and the cartilage plate. After people enter the age of 30, each part of the intervertebral disc has different degrees of degeneration and change, and its elasticity and toughness decrease accordingly. When the waist is twisted and hit during labor or sports activities, or when lifting heavy objects with excessive force or overwork, the intervertebral disc fibers will rupture, and the nucleus pulposus tissue will protrude from the rupture, stimulating or compressing the spinal nerve roots to produce symptoms such as waist and leg confluence, that is, waist and leg with root sciatica. Since this disease is mainly characterized by waist and leg pain, Chinese medicine calls it injury waist pain. Lumbar disc herniation is mainly caused by the prolapse of the nucleus pulposus. Once protruding, it will stimulate the lumbar nerve roots and cause effusion. The local circulation mechanism is affected and cannot be absorbed and metabolized by the body's own ability. Chinese medicine calls it arthralgia. Over time, it will form accumulated calcification. Further aggravating nerve compression and stimulation will cause serious consequences. (When calcification reaches a certain degree, that is, the so-called ossification, drug treatment is no longer possible.)

Traction therapy is a relatively effective decompression measure, which achieves the purpose of decompression by physically stretching the spine. However, sometimes it will forcibly pull apart the adhesion-forming tissues, causing greater damage to the body. Therefore, it is not recommended to use it blindly.

The surgical treatment method mainly involves removing the cartilage plate or clearing the nucleus pulposus tissue that compresses the nerves to implement decompression. This method can indeed relieve pain immediately in a short period of time, and no abnormalities were found in the spine after X-rays. But it does not actually solve the fundamental problem of fibrous tissue weakness. Depending on the degree of fibrous tissue degeneration in the patient, prominent symptoms may recur after a period of time. This is also the reason why patients have long reported a high recurrence rate for surgical treatment.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the theory of traditional Chinese medicine is to restore the elasticity of fibrous tissue as the basis of treatment and to achieve the goal of completely restoring the patient's body functions. Rather than simply solving temporary pain problems. Oral medications usually act more slowly because they need to be absorbed by the liver and enter the blood circulation to reach the affected area. The effect of the drug has greatly diminished. A large number of clinical trials have proven that the use of external application methods, which allows drugs to penetrate through the skin pores and reach the lesions directly, can minimize the loss of drug efficacy. Then we can use external application of Chinese medicine to restore function, soften the space-occupying tissue, promote local circulation function and restore local obstructed metabolic function so that the space-occupying tissue can be absorbed and excreted. It can effectively treat herniated disc. Therefore, I suggest that external application of traditional Chinese medicine should be the main method. Incorporate some daily restorative exercises. The effect is very ideal.

Patients should sleep on a hard bed to reduce the pressure on the intervertebral disc. They should also pay attention to keeping their waist warm and avoid catching cold, especially in winter. They should not wear too little. It is best to wear a belt during the day, which can help recover from the disease. Normally, avoid bending over and doing strenuous movements such as mopping the floor. When an attack occurs, you must stay in bed and rest.