Does a herniated disc necessarily need medical treatment?

A few years ago I had severe Sciatica and MRIs showed that I had bulges or tears in a couple of lumbar discs. A couple of days ago, I was doing a forward stretch in yoga and since then I've had some pain, but only when I get up from a seated position and at certain movements. The pain is very mild and I have not felt the need for Medication or have not curtailed my activities, except for not doing all the exercises I usually do. But I am getting pins and needles (paresthesia) on the bottom of one foot, which probably indicates sciatic nerve involvement.

However, when I had sciatica in the past, I had severe pains in my leg. I have no pain there now.

I am not insured right now and want to know if I can just rest and the Herniated Disc will heal or if I must have medical care if the symptoms do not worsen. (I do understand that cauda equina Syndrome symptoms are a medcal emergency.)

Can I get away with not seein a doctor? Should I stop exercising and stretching?
Most people have some degree of Bulging disks in their spine and many don't have symptoms from them. The fact that you only have experienced this pain for a couple of days says to me that you probably don't need medical treatment for it right now. But rest is not actually what you should be doing to treat it -- you need to keep moving (gently!), not lie in bed or do a lot of vegging out on the couch. Try to walk around as much as you can and do some gentle stretches a couple of times a day (nothing that seems to make the pain worse, however). Once the pain is better, you might consider adding a regular routine of Pilates to help strengthen your core muscles, which in turn will protect your back and spine from future injury.

If the pain worsens, or if it doesn't improve after a few weeks of gentle movement and TLC, then you might want to consider seeing a doctor for a referral to physical therapy.

In the interim, you might also try applying hot and Cold packs to your back where the pain is (alternate the two), and if you can tolerate it, try some ibuprofen for the inflammation and pain.

Good luck!
I'm a medical librarian.