Most disc herniations shrink on their own through nucleus pulposus resorption, a process driven by acute inflammation. Your immune cells break down the extruded disc material, deliver nutrients, and rebuild tissue. The problem isn't inflammation itself—it's when acute inflammation becomes chronic that pain persists.
One of the most fascinating things about disc herniations is that many of them, most of them, shrink or resolve naturally over time. You know this, you've seen it in your practice, and imaging studies have shown that the body can actually break down and absorb the herniated disc material. So that process is nucleus pulposus resorption. And here's the key point: that resorption process is actually driven by inflammation. Not bad inflammation, but controlled biological inflammation that allows the body to do a few really important things. 1, recruit immune cells. 2, break down disc material. 3, grow new blood vessels to bring in those nutrients. And then 4, remodel tissue. So you've heard me talk about this many times on this podcast, but acute inflammation is the start of the healing process. It's really good. It's when acute becomes chronic that all of the challenges that we know start.
