what exactly is a bulging disk?

Question

i have pain in my lower back that get worse on days that i have overeerted or when i get sick, it gets excruciating, otherwise it is mostly bothersome i can fel something in bewteen my vertebrae although it isn't real prominent, is this a bulging disk?

Answer 1

not gullible gave mostly good info on a bulging disc, but because they are nothing more than a glorified massage therapist their thinking is a bit narrow minded.

the disc is made of an outer layer (annulus) which consists of rings of cartilage that surround the inner gel-like (not watery like gullible stated) layer called the pulposis. if a person does not have proper structural alignment of the spine, extra load can be trasferred to the discs. this, over time, can cause a disc to wear out. the cartilage rings weaken and the gel like layer starts to migrate towards that weakened area which causes the disc to bulge. this bulge can then "pinch" the nerves which are exiting from the spine and cause pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness wherever that nerve travels. in the case of the low back you could have those symptoms there and possibly in the buttocks/legs since that's where those particular nerves travel.

so what can cause these structural misalginments? well, not gullible believes everything is related to muscle--hence the narrow mindedness. i agree that hypertonic muscles can cause this to happen, but it is not the only cause in a structural shift as gullible will have you believe. who's to say that the vertebrae didn't move first?--with trauma, bad posture, or plain old genetics this is just as likely (it's kind of like the chicken and the egg thing--which came 1st?). if there is a structural misalignment it can cause the vertebra to "pinch" a nerve. this nerve controls those muscles gullible was talking about and so if the nerve is irritated it sends signals to those muscles that cause them to be irritated--this is where the tight or hypertonic muscles come from. so you see it can go either way. this, of course, if left untreated can lead to the disc degeneration as explained before.

i just wanted to explain both sides since not gullible only sees the one side. it's kind of ironic their name is not gullible since they are gullible enough to think only one thing can cause a back problem.

so how to fix it?? i would recommend seeing someone who specializes in the spine--a chiropractor, osteopath, etc. these professions look at the whole picture-they can re-align the spine with manual adjustments and also work with the muscle tissue. unlike the glorified masseuse--who can only work with the muscle tissue. which won't solve the cause of the problem if tight muscles are just a symptom of the nerve being pinched---they would just get tight again because the pressure on the nerve is still there. good luck!!

Answer 2

I am a Neuromuscular Therapist.

A disc is composed of a tough outer layer (annulus fibrosus) and a watery inner layer (nucleus pulposus). A bulging disc is caused by uneven pressure exerted by the vertebrae which presses the inner layer toward the surface and displaces the disc.

It's possible you have a bulging disc but not likely. The fact that your pain is intermittent and worse only under certain conditions tells me the problem is most likely due to overly tight muscles and/or trigger points in those muscles.

When muscles are overly tight (hypertonic) they're sore and sensitive to pressure, stress, physical work, etc. If these muscles also contain trigger points they'll refer pain to other parts of your body. For example, symptoms often diagnosed as sciatica are usually not sciatica at all but trigger points in the low back or gluteuls (buttock muscles) that have pain referral patterns that mimc sciatica, which is caused by displacement of the L4 vertebrae. When muscles have been hypertonic for a long time or injured in the past your central nervous system tends to narrow down the excess nerve stimulation to a limited number of pathways instead of using all that are available. This Neurological Law is called a facillitated pathway. When your nervous system experiences excess stimulation, such as when you're fighting a cold or overexert your muscles, etc., it will send all of the excess stimulation to an area it's already used to using-the facillitated pathway. In your case it's your low back. When you are not under stress the nervous system quiets down and the pain subsides.

I would suggest addressing and correcting any muscular issues first before other drastic measures. In my own practice I see people everyday who've been diagnosed with bulging discs, sciatica, arthritis and any number of other "diseases" only to find that the cause of the pain is overly tight muscles. Once the muscles are released with deep corrective massage and mild stretching, along with determining what has caused the problem in the first place, the pain goes away in short order. Incidentally, bulging discs are usually caused by hypertonic muscles which pull the vertebrae out of position and squeeze the disc to one side. Remove the strain caused by the muscles and the disc will return to its normal position.

I highly recommend that you seek out a Neuromuscular Therapist, Rolfer or other advanced structural massage therapist in your area. They will be able to determine what's causing your pain, correct it with deep muscle massage and stretching, and teach you how to avoid the cause in the future. Relief can be achieved without drugs, surgery or elaborate physical therapy protocols.

As a side point, a disc cannot be destroyed or displaced by picking up a paint can incorrectly as a previous poster commented. If a simple act like that resulted in damage he already had long-standing and significant muscular imbalances and postural distortions established. The resulting injury was "the straw that broke the camel's back" and only highlighted a muscualr system that was severly overloaded to begin with. Our bodies are not so fragile that simple acts like picking up light objects or getting out of bed will destroy joints and connective tissue!!

Answer 3

There are little jelly-like disks in between your vertebrate. A bulging disk is when your vertebrate squish the disk. Yours doesn't sound like that. I have never heard of back pain that gets worse when you are sick. Go see a doctor. A bulging disk happens when you experience a large trauma to your back.

Answer 4

i am 35 now and had 1 when i was 25yrs. i picked up 1 gallon of paint and twisted wrong. since then had 2 back surgeries and shots too burn the nerves going into leg. am labled permenantly disablied. my lower back disc was bulging then pinched sciatic nerve. then it deterated to nothing. had no disc between bone. it doesn't get worse when sick. bulging disc can happen from getting out of bed

Answer 5

bulging disk usually will involve lower backache and sciatica( a sharp pain felt running down the back of your legs).

But still u need a further evaluation, to assess how bad is your condition.

Answer 6

a bulging disk is simply a vertebrae in your spine that is slightly displaced. You need to see a chiropractor

Answer 7

OOPS, sorry, misread the question. I'll be leaving now.

Peace.

Answer 8

you need to have x-rays done to determin

Answer 9

shouldn't you see a doctor?