What Is A Slipped Disc?

What is a Slipped Disc?

Have you ever heard the phrase “Slipped Disc” .  It brings up the vision that a disc between your vetebrae has actually “slipped” out of place.  This is not the case.

The anatomy of a disc is that there is a gel like substance that is surrounded by strands of Cartilage.  These strands of cartilage are attached to the vertebrae above and below.  They are in a basket weave shape.  This is what holds the gel substance in place.  Sometimes what happens is that the strands of cartilage can weaken and the gel can bulge out.  This is much like a balloon that someone squeezes.  It forces air and stretches the latex of the balloon into a bubble like shape.

If the bulging gel puts pressure on a nerve, you will feel back pain and you will know that you have an issue.  However more than half of the bulging discs are never diagnosed.  This is because the bulge doesn’t affect a nerve and so there aren’t any symptoms.

This is especially true in the neck.  A study showed that over 1/2 of the population over the age of 40 have a bulging disc.  But, because of the shape of the vertebrae in the neck, the bulge is diverted away from nerves.  This means you will never know you have a problem.

The low back is different.  The vertebrae are flat and so if there is a bulge, it is more likely to affect a nerve causing symptoms.  The symptoms could be in the form of shooting pain or localized pain.

What Can You Do About The Pain?

Chiropractic is a great way of dealing with low back pain.  In fact multiple studies show that chiropractic has a better chance of helping back pain than physical therapy or the drugs that medical doctors give you.  But if your disc is bulging, chiropractic may not be able to solve the problem with just adjustments.  If you have pain that shoots and you have tried chiropractic with no success, you may need more advanced therapy.  Decompression is a great way to solve the problem without having to resort to surgery.

Surgery is something people have heard about because so many people have had it.  However, the success rate of surgery is very poor.  In fact, less than 1/2 of the people that have surgery have success that lasts more than a year.  One study showed that 75% of the people that have a surgery will have a second one within 4 years.  We will go into that in the next blog.

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