A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period.
Herniated discs often do not need to heal at all. That is because most minor and moderate herniated discs are not painful or problematic in any way. They merely exist. In fact, herniated discs are a common side effect of normal spinal aging.
What is a herniated disc? A herniated disc is a disc that extrudes into the spinal canal. It is also referred to as a bulging disc, ruptured disc or slipped disc. As a disc degenerates, it can herniate (the inner core extrudes) back into the spinal canal, as shown in this picture on the right. The light blue oval area is the disc, and it is bulging into the spinal canal on the lower right side of the disc. A lumbar herniated disc can cause pain to radiate all the way down the legs and into the foot. In the area of the cervical spine, the pain would radiate from the neck, down the arm and into the fingers.