In the last entry I discussed the anatomy of a herniated cervical disc, so here I will not go into much detail on that specifically, but focus instead on what is involved in bulging disc treatment.  Disc injuries can be very complex in nature, and need to be appropriately diagnosed at a back pain clinic to determine the correct treatment.  The most important concern with these cases is nerve, nerve root, or spinal cord contact or compression.  If an MRI reveals compression of one of these structures and the correlating symptomatology is present then surgical intervention must be considered as long as all conservative resources have been exhausted.  However, surgical correction should be a last resort.  Some conservative treatments to consider are spinal rehabilitation, chiropractic, spinal decompression/traction, and exercise (core strengthening).  

By far, the best treatment for a herniated cervical disc or disc injury is to diagnose it at an early stage so that the cause of the herniation can be corrected.  This will prevent further disc damage that eventually leads to more aggressive bulging disc treatment like surgical intervention.  

Research has proven that a healthy spinal segment (two vertebrae and disc in between) will not alter or damage unless excessive external force is applied.  Basically, what that means is that a healthy spinal disc should not herniate with any force or movement applied by the individual.  The majority of the time, however, you will hear of an individual that twists, sneezes, coughs, lifts an object, or performs some other routine action,  and it resulted in a disc injury.  But with the above research, it is also proven that these injuries are not normal, and signifies that the spinal joint segment is weak.  This weakness is what enables herniated cervical disc injury.  

Here is a common example I had a patient today in his mid 40’s that bent over to pick up his newspaper and could not stand back up, compelling him to find a back pain clinic and his subsequent trip to my office.  An examination and MRI proved his lumbar spine disc bulge.  Now, the disc certainly did not bulge because the newspaper was too heavy. His herniated cervical disc was a result of a weakness or instability at that spinal level.  The instability made him more prone to injury.  

Even a monkey could diagnose a herniated disc, but it is a more complicated matter to discern the cause for it and to know the correct bulging disc treatment to apply.  The best treatment approach is to further determine what caused the herniated disc, and if that causation  is correctable.  If the case is correctable, this will prevent further damage to the disc and prevent the case to becoming a surgical case in the future.

So if you have a bulging disc that needs treatment, go to a back pain clinic, like Village Chiropractic, that can diagnose and address the source of the problem. Bulging disc treatment is more involved than merely focusing on the bulging disc.