Six years ago, I had a disc herniation. The tests showed it was just protruding from its normal space. There was no pressure on the nearby spinal nerve. Now, I have injured another disk. This time there is protrusion and pressure on the nerve. Will this make a difference in my recovery?

Researchers around the world are trying to answer this question. They hope to find ways to see which treatment works the best by measuring changes in the damaged tissue. A recent study in Japan showed specific tissue changes at the cellular level. They found that nerve cell tissue was much worse when the disc put both mechanical pressure on nearby tissue and also caused chemical irritation. With pressure on the nerve tissue, swelling and loss of blood flow occur. The result is to reduce the speed of nerve cell messages.

How recovery takes place remains a mystery. The patient’s symptoms aren’t always equal to the injury. Small amounts of damage can cause many symptoms while sometimes, a large lesion has no symptoms. More studies are needed to predict who will recover and how long it will take.