Home care for a herniated disk comes down to two cheap options: rest and over-the-counter medicine. Each one asks something different of you.
What does the source say to try first?
OrthoInfo (AAOS) lists both options in plain terms. On rest it says: One to 2 days of bed rest will usually help relieve back and leg pain.
On medicine it says: Anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or naproxen can help relieve pain.
How the two options compare
Rest costs nothing but time, and the source puts a limit on it at 1 to 2 days. We read that as a short window, not a plan for weeks, though the source does not spell out what happens after.
The medicine option costs a little at the pharmacy and commits you to a decision. The source does not cover who should avoid these drugs or how long to take them, so that question goes to a pharmacist or your doctor.
Where to go from here
If the pain is still there after the rest window, treat that as your cue to book a visit instead of extending the experiment. A reader in Little Falls should ask any office for its visit fee and agreement terms before committing.
For more reading, WebMD's pain management center covers the wider field. OrthoInfo's page on sciatica is useful if the pain runs down a leg. The American Academy of Pain Medicine is a place to learn what pain specialists do.
A practitioner's note
Home care is the low-commitment end of the ledger, and it earns that spot. It does not earn an open-ended trial, because the source only supports a short rest window and a pain-relief claim for the drugs.