What To Do With A “Slipped Disc”

We hear this one a lot. “My doctor told me to never pick up anything over 10 pounds because I have a slipped disc”. 

1- If a doctor tells you that, you need to find a new doctor. 

2- While you might have an injury to your back that may possibly involve your disc, it’s inaccurate to picture your disc “slipped” or shifted to the side like a hockey puck or a Jenga tower. This creates an image of weakness or fragility that is far from the truth of your anatomy. 

Take a look at a typical spinal segment in your lower back. There are the 2 bony vertebrae, which serve as the load bearing structures, a cage around your spinal cord, and the attachments for the muscles that move you around from place to place. 

Sandwiched between the vertebrae is the disc. It is common to think of the disc as a “shock absorber” in the spine, but that’s not necessarily its function. Most of the shock absorption of moving around all day comes from the natural spinal curves and the muscles surrounding them. The discs act more as a “spacer”, propping open the foramen window through which those spinal nerves pass. Rather than slipping from side to side, they are held in place by a strong webbing of tissue that can resist quite a bit of force.

When we are younger, our discs are thick and full of fluid, allowing the nerves to travel freely from the spinal cord to the muscles they innervate. As we walk around under gravity through the day, our discs squeeze out some of that fluid and actually get a little shorter (yes, you are a little taller in the morning than in the evening!). When we sleep/ lie flat for a while, the fluid reabsorbs back into the disc, like a sponge. 

As we get older, or more accurately deconditioned, it gets harder for our discs to reabsorb that fluid and the disc space gets more narrow. Imbalanced pressures will start pushing that fluid out toward the edges of the disc. This is when scans will start to show signs of degeneration or disc bulging/herniation. That bulging or narrowing ends up squeezing the spinal nerve and causing pain or numbness, either locally or further down the leg. 

End of the road, ticket punched to Fragiletown, right? 

WRONG! 

There is plenty that can be done to rehabilitate a herniated disc without having to resort to surgery. As mentioned above, the disc has a thick liquidy center. Fluid responds to pressure by moving away from it. Think of biting into a jelly donut: the biting force on one side makes the jelly squirt out the other and onto your new white shirt. Quite often the extra pressures causing the discs to herniate come from surrounding muscles that are too tight and/or weak to properly support the structure.

If the constant pressure on a disc is relaxed/reversed, then the disc herniation can actually be pulled back toward the center and away from the irritated nerves. (See diagram)

We can often achieve significant relief initially through decompression, either with postural correction and/or physical distraction. But that relief can be short lived unless you plan on remaining in traction for the rest of your life (not advised). The long term relief comes from strengthening the muscles surrounding those spinal segments which will naturally “jack up” your disc space back to normal levels. When the nerves have enough mobility to glide through the window and freely innervate the areas they are supposed to, then you can get back to normal function again. 

One trick you can try to use for spinal decompression without having to go upside down is simply hanging from a bar at the proper angle. Every back problem is unique , so this isn’t necessarily a cure-all, but give these a try (gently at first!) and see if you can find some relief. 

Even if the disc doesn’t fully return to its prior state, you can still achieve full functional capacity without pain. Studies have shown MRIs taken on a wide group of individuals showed that disc herniation is quite common in people that have no symptoms whatsoever. The diagnosis is not a death sentence. 

Our treatments focus on restoring this normal mobility for your spine, along with the strengthening techniques to keep your spine painfree for life. Instead of thinking of your discs like jelly donuts ready to “slip out” with the lightest forces, think of them instead as a radial tire, stuffed with tough wadded chewing gum and supported by heavy bungee cords. 

That is how your spine should operate, and we want to help you make it that way. They are not fragile, and neither are you.

Hop on a free call with us and see how we can help you get back to operating at your full capacity!