Disc Injury Treatment in Brick

Your spinal discs lie between the vertebrae and are designed to be “shock absorbers” and “spacers” between the spinal bones. They are made of very strong fibrocartilage (made of collagen) and a less dense area in the middle made of some collagen and a jelly-like substance. But even though discs are made of strong tissue, they are usually under many different types of forces that cause them to weaken and for the inner nuclear “jelly” to push outward; often times causing nerve irritation and damage.

Disc degeneration and compression happen due to a variety of reasons that usually happen together over time. In almost every case, there are four main reasons why your discs get bulged or herniated:

1. Spinal vertebrae get stuck out of alignment due to too much stress on your skeletal system; leading to disc stress.
2. Poor posture habits and weakened muscles cause you to lose your normal curves in your spine.
3. Too much sitting causes increased compression forces in the discs, especially in the low back and neck.
4. Past traumas and injuries, even minor ones, create compression forces and damage the outer layers of the disc which allows the jelly-like material to begin to bulge outward. The most serious disc problem is a prolapsed disc in which the soft center ruptures and leaks.

Once there’s enough compression, the outer layer of the disc weakens and tiny fissures or openings get created in the disc. This allows the inner disc material to begin to bulge outward.

If enough of the disc bulges out and the jelly-like material comes outside of the disc, it is called a herniation. And if the herniation is near a nerve root, this can irritate the nerve to the point where you may experience numbness, tingling or pain; usually in down the leg or arm depending on where the nerve is located.

Medical doctors including orthopedists and pain management doctors usually just give medications or inject drugs near the offending discs to eliminate the pain. Also, spine surgeons may suggest surgery to fuse the bones together or cut out a piece of disc. However, these procedures, if they work at all, are usually temporary and do not address the cause of the problem at all.