How painful are herniated discs?

Varies: Pain from a herniated disc can be severe with symptoms of pain, numbness, tingling and weakness in the back, buttocks, upper leg and lower leg. On the other end of the spectrum, there can be little or no pain to a herniated disc. Be sure to see your doctor if you are suspicious of a herniated disc.

From none to severe: They can be totally asymptomatic or causing no pain or any issues to severe enough to require activity modification and injectable narcotic medication possibly leading to surgery which is the case in 10% of disc herniations with one indication being intractable ( pain not responding to treatment) pain.