Hey it’s Dr. Nick, your favorite chiropractor for low back pain in Springfield, Illinois. When a patient visits our office with lower back pain the three areas that we focus on are the spine, whether it moves well and is in alignment; the muscles which surround the spine, making sure they’re in good form; and we assess disc problems.
What are Spinal Discs?
The spinal discs are a part of the spine that act as the shock absorber for the entire system. You have three curves in your spine that disperse the weight and gravity evenly throughout the spine. Spinal discs in between each vertebrae act as a shock absorber for the system preventing the bones from rubbing on one another. If the disc starts to get smaller, the hole that the nerve comes out of also gets smaller, creating less room for error if you bend over and pick something up. That’s why when people experience a “bulging disc,” it usually happens after they bend over and pick something up – rather than, say, deadlifting 200 pounds.
A healthy disc should look like a jelly doughnut. The nucleus of the disc is the jelly and the fibers that hold it in place, which is the disc itself, is the doughnut. If the disc shrinks due to limited movement of a joint then these discs won’t have all the nutrients they need and will shrink possibly leading to disc degeneration. That’s why keeping your spine moving is such an important thing.
What is a Bulged Disc?
Disc dehydration, from lack of motion, can lead to low back pain because the disc becomes more brittle and its fibers start to tear. The hole that the nerve travels through will also start to get smaller and put pressure on the nerve.
If the disc tears, the nucleus will take the path of least resistance, because it’s a gelatinous material, and it will start to move towards the outside. If enough of these fibers tear the disc can actually bulge backwards and press on the nerve. Again, this is a problem that muscle relaxants, stretches, exercises are not going to fix.
Prescribing painkillers and muscle relaxers to mask the symptoms can actually be worse for the back problem. If you numb the pain signals and relax the muscles that are trying to stabilize the injured disc, you may start to think you’re feeling better and resume normal activity. This can exacerbate the REAL cause of the issue.
How do We Address Spinal Disc Issues?
A lot of doctors focus on the pain you feel while neglecting the underlying cause. At the Springfield Wellness Center, our approach is a bit different. When you go into discuss your low back pain with other offices they may diagnose it as a muscle strain or ligament sprain. We’re searching for the underlying cause of the pain, not the superficial symptoms, which is most of these cases is the disc.
In our office, we always make sure that our chiropractic care addresses the disc injury because what you don’t want to happen is for the fibers to completely tear and the disc to completely rupture. At that point, the issue becomes a lot more difficult to treat. That’s usually when people have to start talking about surgery.
If we can get people adjusted and keep their spinal healthy, the discs in between their vertebra will not have a problem. But if you are at the stage where your disc is damaged, it’s important to make sure that your healthcare provider knows how to address this issue and has solutions for how to resolve it. Give us a call or schedule a time with one of our amazing doctors to discuss solutions that will provide long lasting lower back pain relief and not just mask the symptoms. This will prevent back pain in the long run and get you back to living your life.
