As a disc degenerates and breaks down, the inner core can leak out through the outer portion of the disc, and this condition is known as a disc herniation or a herniated disc. The weak spot in the outer core of the intervertebral disc is directly under the spinal nerve root, so a herniation in this area puts direct pressure on the nerve. The nerve runs through the leg, and any type of pinched nerve in the lower spine can cause pain to radiate along the path of the nerve through the buttock and down the leg. This type of pain is also called sciatica or a radiculopathy. Symptoms and signs of lumbar herniated disc include in TCM.

1. Stagnation of Qi and Blood Stasis
Main symptoms: difficult for the waist to move freely, intolerable pain in the waist, lateral bend of the spine, fixed pain, wandering pain, aggravation when coughing, dark purple coating.

2. Numbness due to Wind, Cold, and Damp
Main symptoms: pains in the waist and legs, wandering pains, difficult to turn round, aggravation at changeable weather, light tongue coating, deep pulse.

Main symptoms: pains in the waist and legs, fatigue, pains without break for years, aversion to cold, pale complexion, shortness of breath, vertigo, tinnitus, dry mouth and throat, insomnia, frequent dreams, red tongue coating, thin pulse.