Can Bulging Discs Be Fixed?
In 1989, when I first began treating patients with back and neck pain, most people were aware that the bones in their spine were separated by discs—likely the result of effective chiropractic marketing. Unfortunately, due to that same widespread marketing, a majority of my patients also believed their spinal discs could “slip” out of place—just like a wayward tomato slice from a squeezed sandwich.
While walking the line between anatomical accuracy and over-simplification myself, I hope to better explain what happens to the discs in your spine to make them part of the pain package you may be experiencing.
Spinal discs are far more complex than a stack of circles, prone to “slip out of place.” Instead, they are masterfully engineered structures with a firm outer body (constructed like a radial tire), filled with a soft, gelatinous inner core, and woven snuggly between the bones of our spines. There is absolutely no way for whole discs to “slip” out of place. Rather, overly stressed discs, like people, undergo an “internal break down.”
Damage to one’s discs, or degenerative disc disease, can begin with habitual bad postures (i.e., slouched standing, slumped sitting, bending forward for long periods of time), by repetitive traumas (i.e., knitting or reading with your head down, frequent bending activities), or by large traumas (i.e., falls, car accidents, heavy lifting mishaps). As a result, discs develop stress fractures—which tear from the inside out, just as the wearing of a radial tire would. It’s through these fissured fault lines that the gelatinous, inner portion of the disc begins to migrate outward through the tougher outer layers.
Eventually, the disc may develop a space-occupying bulge (visible via MRI), which can—in and of itself—cause pain, or the bulge can press up against a spinal nerve, sending pain clear down an arm or leg. If the firm outermost edge of the disc ruptures, or herniates altogether, then the inner “gel” will be released into “free space,” wreaking havoc on all it comes up against.
So, here’s the good news:
While fully ruptured (herniated) discs will always leave you with a potentially “weak link” in your spine, bulging discs can be fully healed! From my experience, patients with both bulging and herniated discs can often be rehabilitated to live highly-functioning, pain free lives, given the right therapeutic treatment.