Application of white peony root in lumbar disc herniation

Lumbar disc herniation is a serious symptom, and there are many ways to treat this disease, such as traction therapy, physical therapy, and drug therapy. Drug treatment is divided into two types: traditional Chinese medicine treatment and Western medicine treatment. In traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, you can add some white peony root to achieve the effect of treating diseases. Below, I will introduce the treatment methods of lumbar disc herniation in detail.

1. Traction therapy

Traction therapy for lumbar disc herniation is a method that uses the relationship between action force and reaction force in mechanics to achieve the treatment goal through a special traction device.

(1) It plays a role in fixing and braking the waist: During traction, under the balance of action force and reaction force, the pulled waist is in a relatively fixed normal alignment state, and the range of motion and amplitude of the waist are further limited compared to when resting in bed or wearing a waist belt, so as to reduce or eliminate local inflammatory reactions such as congestion, exudation, and edema.

(2) Relax the back muscles: Lumbar disc herniation is often accompanied by back muscle spasms due to compression or stimulation of the spinal nerves. This not only causes pain in the waist, but also causes lumbar malalignment. Traction therapy can gradually relax the back muscles and relieve muscle spasms.

(3) Restoring the normal alignment of the lumbar spine: During traction, if the patient's lumbar spine is placed in a physiological curve, the malalignment can gradually return to normal as the traction time increases.

(4) Improving the relationship between the protrusion and the nerves: For patients with mild or early-stage lumbar disc herniation, the intervertebral space can be gradually distracted, which is conducive to the reduction of the protrusion. For patients with relatively long course of illness, traction can pull apart adhesion tissues and contracted ligaments and joint capsules to widen the spinal canal space accordingly. The narrow intervertebral foramina on both sides can also be pulled apart at the same time, thereby relieving or eliminating compression and stimulation of the nerve roots, and has a good effect in relieving numbness and pain in the lower limbs.

2. Physical therapy

(1) Shortwave and ultrashort wave therapy: In the early stages of the disease, shortwave and ultrashort wave electrotherapy is generally used to improve blood circulation in the affected area, eliminate possible inflammatory reactions such as exudation and edema, and relieve pain caused by compression or stimulation of the nerve roots. During treatment, the two electrodes can be placed opposite each other in the lumbar sacral region or in parallel in the lumbar sacral region and the back of the affected leg. Warm temperature, once a day, 20-40 minutes each time. One course of treatment is 15-20 times.

(2) Intermittent electrotherapy: Small circular electrodes can be used to treat points in the lumbar sacral region and along the sciatic meridian, with dense waves for 2-5 minutes, sparse waves for 5 minutes, and intermittent waves for 5 minutes. 1-2 times a day, 15-20 times as a course of treatment.

(3) Super-stimulation current therapy: Two electrodes of 8-12 cm2 can be used, one placed horizontally on the sacrum and the other placed vertically on the waist. After connecting the power supply, adjust the power to 8-12 mA as quickly as possible. After the strong sense of electricity disappears, increase the power to 18-23 mA within 2-7 minutes. Each treatment lasts 15 minutes. Once a day or every other day. If effective, continue treatment up to 6-12 times.

3. Drug treatment

Drug treatment for lumbar disc herniation is generally only used as an auxiliary treatment with the main purpose of relieving symptoms.

(1) For patients with unbearable pain symptoms, who cannot lie flat or fall asleep, appropriate anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs can be given orally; or antispasmodic and analgesic tincture can be applied externally to relieve local pain. Relieving the patient's pain as much as possible will facilitate the implementation of other rehabilitation treatments.

(2) In the acute stage of lumbar disc herniation, edema at the spinal nerve root sleeve is more obvious, which is not only one of the main causes of severe pain, but also can cause secondary arachnoid adhesion. In order to eliminate local reactive edema, steroid drugs can be intravenously dripped, diuretics such as hydrochlorothiazide can be taken, and dehydrating agents such as mannitol can be dripped intravenously under pressure.

(3) For patients with lumbar disc herniation caused by degenerative changes, especially the elderly, they can take chondroitin sulfate A (Kandeling), 3 times a day, 8-12 tablets each time, for about 1 month; or compound chondroitin tablets can be used, the main ingredients of which are chondroitin sulfate A 75 mg, processed aconite extract (equivalent to 250 mg of crude drug), white peony extract (equivalent to 40 mg of crude drug), and licorice extract 20 mg. The dosage and administration are the same as those of chondroitin sulfate A. If the patient has varying degrees of muscle atrophy after suffering from lumbar disc herniation, vitamin E can be taken orally 300 mg per day, divided into 1 or 3 times.