Thigh

"Doctor, can Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) completely cure a herniated lumbar disc?" Ms. Zhou, aged 36, inquired at the clinic. Over the past month, Ms. Zhou had experienced lower back pain and radiating pain and numbness in her left thigh and calf. After examination, she was diagnosed with a herniated lumbar disc (referred to as "herniated disc" hereafter). Despite rest and medication, the effects were not significant, and some hospitals recommended surgery. She came to the TCM hospital, hoping for TCM treatment. Based on her condition, the doctor provided integrated TCM therapy, and after three weeks, her symptoms completely disappeared. According to Dr. Ma Hongwei, director of the Department of Orthopedics at the Ningxia Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Research Institute of TCM, once a disc protrudes, it is difficult to return it to its original position. The goal of TCM treatment is to achieve harmony between the body and the herniated disc. Why Does the Lumbar Disc Protrude? A disc is like an elastic "washer" between two vertebral bodies, with its edge surrounded by fibrous rings and a soft collagenous nucleus in the middle, separated from the vertebral bodies above and below by thin layers of cartilage plates.…