Amar is 33 years old IT professional and he commutes usually in his own car, traveling 40 kilometers daily to his workplace and back. He got married last year. An avid bike rider, he misjudged a tingling back pain for months few years ago and left it untreated until he lost complete sensation of his lower limbs and fell off his bike during the lockdown. A few broken ribs and sutures on his jaw later, Amar was finally told by his doctor, “Amar, you have slipped disc — which you carelessly left undiagnosed for 2-3 years!”
Amar is not alone — and thankfully for you, the chances of losing sensation in lower limbs is one in 1000 reported cases, duration of which may arrive anywhere between 5-10 years depending on your lifestyle, food habits, and the work you do.
Yes, slipped disc is a serious disorder, and if left untreated, it can result in permanent nerve damage. It mainly occurs due to soft tissue getting intertwined or sandwiched between the bones of the spine allowing the inner portion of the tissue to slip out. Apart from poor posture and sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, obesity and food habits also cause slip disc.
Amar booked his first session with top neuro rehab center in Delhi and one among his many fearful questions was:
“What would be my slip disc treatment recovery timeline look like?”
I have tried to aim my article to explain how long it takes to recover from slip disc fully or partially.
The rehab starts with a series of passive therapy sessions, including deep tissue massage, TENS / acupuncture and Hot and cold therapy. Once the slip disc eases and the pain subsides, the best physiotherapists in Delhi switch coherently to an Active physiotherapy program.
At this initial stage, a SLIP DISC recovery would entail you to undergo a series of interventions and physical therapy sessions, lasting anywhere between 20 minutes daily to 45-60 minutes on any day of the week. In addition, you would be asked to book a session each of Hot / cold therapy along with TENS and Aqua therapy to boost your mind body balance and return normalcy to your back’s S shaped form.
Slip disc treatment in Delhi has an average duration of 6 months before you start seeing progressive improvement in the condition. Physical and neuro rehab treatments are part of the course, and these help extensively in recovering from a herniated disc that has been damaged by years of poor form and maltreatment. By that logic, six months is a fairly fast recovery timeline that top physiotherapists keep in mind during counseling.
Of course, the extent of damage to discs and your own physical intensity are keys to accelerating the overall healing process.
Active physiotherapy sessions last anywhere between 90 minutes to 180 minutes, and involves a whole range of motion control and posture correction techniques, in addition to core muscle building.
Role of Chiropractic Treatment in the Herniated Slip Disc Recovery Regime
If you are in Amar’s place, you would get this question a lot — “Shall I get myself operated for slip disc?” The cases are thankfully 5 in 10,000! A chiropractor would be in a good position to work with you through the slip disc recovery and provide you a firmer resolution for your herniated disc problems. A chiropractor’s approach is slightly different to that of a physiotherapist, but they usually gel when it comes to alleviate the pain.
A chiropractic approach entails a deeper neurological study of the damage to nerve and assuage if there has been any wastage of muscle or disc. The practitioner would then study the spine as a whole and examine your neck, ribs, limbs and hip joints too, to ensure spinal issues don’t influence your other body parts during the ongoing physical therapy sessions.
Personalized Therapies
Amar consulted the best physiotherapist in West Delhi, and luckily he got a healthy result within 6 months! His physiotherapy will work with a neurologist and chiropractor to design a specific slip disc recovery timeline so that he doesn’t have to undergo a rehabilitation at a healthcare center during the COVID-19 even as his physiotherapist continues to guide him through weekly tele call sessions and video conferencing programs for easing his slip disc pain. His chiropractor is also available through phone calls and video messages and chats whenever needed. Amar’s condition is better than what it was some weeks ago- and his smile is back!
