Running with a herniated disk can pose risks and benefits to the disk. If you are cautious you can heal yourself faster, and lead a healthy lifestyle without worry of severe back pain.
Is It Ok to Run With a Herniated Disk?
If you are careful regarding what distance, how you run, and how long you run, a herniated disk can be helped with running. However, if you do anything that damages or hurts your herniated disk than you could be in a lot of pain for many days, and keep that disc form healing properly. In the end it is fine to run with a herniated disk if you are careful.
Benefits of Running with a Herniated Disk
There are many benefits of running with a herniated disk, and if you run or are thinking of running you should take an opportunity to learn what you are doing that is good for your spinal disk.
- Running can help with disk compression-Disk compression happens when your spinal disks become brittle and push your vertebrae together which pinch your nerves and can put you in extreme pain. However running can help with poster and stretching your back which can help decrease your chances of spinal disk compression.
- Helps with posture- It is own that running can help with posture. This is very helpful with herniated disk. Having good posture can help heal the disk.
- Fresh Air is good for the healing process- Fresh air is one of nature’s best medicines. Tests have shown that patients with herniated disks, other injuries, and certain illnesses can heal faster when exposed to fresh air, and nature.
- Helps with healing process- Sitting alone, or lying in bed all day can increase your symptoms, and prolong your healing process. Getting active with running or other types of exercise can decrease your symptoms and even shorten your healing process.
- Can pop a slightly herniated back into place- If you do not have a full-blown herniated disk then running can help pop the disk back into place and prevent painful symptoms and a full-blown herniated disk.
- Strengthen disks- Tests show that running correctly with a herniated disk can actually strengthen the spinal disk and prevent it from becoming more damaged.
The Risks of Running with a Herniated Disk
Although there are many benefits to running with a herniated disk there are also some important risks to consdier. If you do not run correctly you can hurt yourself badly, and cause a lot of damage. Knowing the risks you could be up against is a smart move as a patient.
Running can cause wear and tear with certain types of herniated disks- Herniated disks such as Lumbar Disks can be worn down by frequent movement and the disks can tear further if you run. However, Lumbar Disks and other disks that should not be exposed to running only make up 10% of herniated disks. Be sure to ask your doctor which type of disk you are experiencing pain with and whether or not running will aggravate your symptoms.
- Can cause more slipped disks- If you suffer from slipped disks or have a family history of slipped disks, running with a herniated disk will not only hurt, but can also increase your chances of slipping another disk, which can cause severe pain.
- Herniated disks in the neck area could have unnecessary pressure put on them. With the way you stand when you run a herniated disk in your neck can have the possibility of helping build pain and tension in your neck by running.
- You can run wrong- Without being instructed in the proper way to run with a herniated disk you can cause yourself a lot of pain and frustration that would not have been there if you hadn’t ran.
- It may not be best for your situation-Sometimes your personal situation is not right for running. If you run without consulting your doctor you may end up hurting yourself even further; possibly even causing permanent damage.
- Vertebrae problems- Your vertebrae can align wrong and pinch your nerves if you run the wrong way, and you can end up in more pain than you had been in before beginning this type of exercise routine. A herniated disk is very delicate, and so are the nerves they protect, so be especially careful when exerting them..
In short, it is important to understand that while any type of exercise (including running) is important for strong bones and a healthy spine, doing so while injured must be done under supervision and medical guidance to alleviate further injury. Be sure to talk with your doctor about what you should and should not do while running with a herniated disk.