Also known as a slipped disc, disc bulge, disc protrusion, disc rupture or disc prolapse among other terms. The disc doesn’t actually slip, it tears. The previous mentioned scientific terms describe different sizes of the disc tear.
The purpose of the 23 discs in your spine is to help hold the vertebrae together, assist in normal body movement and create sufficient space for the exiting spinal nerves.
The disc is made up of a spongy gel-like center, the nucleus and tough outer series of rings, the annulus. If through a sudden, forceful movement such as a lifting, twisting activity, a fall, or through years of repeated stresses over time, the annulus fibers weaken sufficiently for the nucleus to shift and cause a “bulge” that irritates nerves. Spine researchers have rated this pain 3rd, just behind child birth and kidney stones.
We treat about 30 patients a day for this condition at Hall Chiropractic using non-forceful flexion-distraction technique and our spinal decompression table. These procedures create negative pressure changes that “pump” the disc off the nerve without using a scalpel to cut it off as in disc surgery. The rule of thumb is always try the most conservative method of treatment first. Chiropractic care is conservative.
