Herniated/Bulging Disc

(Other terms for this condition include disc herniation, disc rupture, or disc sequestration.)

A disc bulge is when your spinal discs become damaged, then herniate, or push out, against the spinal cord and spinal nerves. A bulging disc becomes very painful, when it presses against the nerves in your spinal column, causing numbness and/or pain.

First of all, let’s break down what a spinal disc is:  In the spinal column there is a disc between every vertebrae, this disc is composed of two components; the nucleus pulposus and the annular fibers.

How about we think of the disc as a jelly donut?  The nucleus pulposus is the jelly and the annular fibers are the dough.  When a disc herniation happens some of the jelly (nucleus) moves out of the dough (annular fibers) and creates problems when it touches the nerve root.

Although many people think that the disc herniation happens at the exact time they begin experiencing pain this isn’t usually the case.  This happens over time as your body breaks down in that area.  This cascade of events usually begins with some form of trauma causing the spine to lose the normal lordotic curvature of the neck or low back.  Over time this causes degeneration and weakness in the neck and/or low back, therefore the disc breaks down.

One day a specific event causes the disc material to move outside the annular fibers and when it hits the nerve root the pain begins.  This can be in the form of low back pain, sciatica, neck pain, arm pain, numbness and tingling, etc.

There are many terms that all mean the same basic thing, these include but are not limited to herniated disc, bulging disc, protruding disc, slipped disc, swollen disc, broken disc, etc.

Herniated Disc Treatment

To diagnose bulging discs we need to conduct a complete medical history, and confirm the bulging disc through MRIs, CT scans, and/or X-rays.

At Spine Correction Center of the Rockies we take disc problems very seriously and have amazing results with these conditions.  Spinal decompression therapy is one of the components of the program that gives us these great results.  Combined with exercises, botanical injections , chiropractic manipulation, and active body orthotics we are able to get results where so many have failed.