For herniated cervical discs (in the neck), traction, plus physical therapy is quite effective at relieving pain and avoiding surgery for long periods of time, up to many years. I should know, as I was diagnosed with a fairly severe C6-C7 herniation (MRI) about 15 years ago (was in serious pain for weeks before it was diagnosed properly) and my ortho sent me to get traction and PT and it worked beautifully. I kept up with the exercises at home, which is very important, but about 6 years later and then another 5 years later (about 4 years ago), I started getting worsening numbness/pain down my arm and in my fingers, so I was sent back for more traction and PT and both times, I was better in a week or two.
https://www.healthline.com/health/cervical-traction#side-effects
I also developed L4-L5 herniation (lumbar - lower back) several years ago, which has only been manifested in some tingling/numbness in the bottoms of my feet (no sciatica or other pain, thankfully - so far), but lumbar traction (2 attempts) was ineffective - my doc said the lumbar traction has a lower success rate but was worth trying. The problem is the symptoms in my feet could be due to several other things and many times are idiopathic (no root cause can be found).
By the way, if anyone is looking for a good physical therapist, I can't recommend our guy highly enough - Alex Ivashenko at Professional Physical Therapy in Edison. He has a PhD in PT, plus 40 years of experience in PT, plus he does a lot of work on RU athletes and is a huge RU sports fan to boot, so we get to shoot the breeze about RU sports while I'm there - I'm actually there right now for meniscus issues in my right knee.
