“Can you feel a herniated disc with your hand?”
My 19 year old son has a herniated disc and he said he can feel it. I wonder if you can feel a herniated disc with your hand?
3 Answers
Yes, you can. It means it's bulging a lot.
If the patient says so and he is thin, then possibly. It depends on so many variables: where his pain is may be 1-2 vertebrae above/below the actual site herniation. If it is a big bulge, it would be to one side or the other of the midline, and usually there is a problem with shooting pain in an extremity (Radiculopathy). If there is any question, an MRI will show the problem or not.
You can feel the pain of a herniated disc when it is pressing on a nerve. However the disc is deep inside not only your body, but inside the bones of your spinal column. The likelihood you could feel something small and squishy (yes, a medical term) that deep inside is almost zero. If you can feel a discrepancy in the spine itself, such as a dislocated spinal bone, that might be possible, however that would be so very dangerous that you would need to be seen immediately to ensure that your spine does not get compressed by the slipped bones. Most likely what he is feeling are the facets between the spinal bones which is where the bones come in contact with each other, and can by themselves create a lot of discomfort, and even enough inflammation to cause compression of the spinal nerves as well.
