Learning how to effectively manage your bulging disc symptoms can help you regain your active lifestyle with minimal discomfort. Thankfully, many bulging disc cases are not painful and can remain undetected for years. However, an intervertebral disc that bulges past its normal space between vertebrae may come in contact with the spinal cord or a nearby nerve root. If this occurs, symptoms could include:

– Sharp, burning, or dull pain at the point of contact between a neural structure and extruded disc material
– Tingling, or a pins-and-needles feeling that can travel into the extremities
– Weakness, spasms, or cramping that affects the arm or leg muscles
– Radiating numbness in the extremities
– Pain that travels the length of a compressed nerve and presents in the upper or lower limbs

Bulging disc symptoms may affect the shoulders, upper back, arms, and hands if the condition develops in the cervical (neck) region of the spine. If the bulging disc occurs in the lumbar (lower back) region, such symptoms could affect the lower back, hips, buttocks, legs, and feet.

Consulting with Your Physician

It is always important to discuss any back or neck pain you may be experiencing with a doctor. He or she can confirm the presence of a bulging disc and help you determine the best course of treatments based on the severity, frequency, and location of your bulging disc symptoms. Initially, conservative (non-surgical) treatment methods may be suggested, such as physical therapy, low impact aerobic exercise, stretching, cold and/or hot therapy, weight management, epidural steroid injections, and over-the-counter or prescription pain medication. You also may choose to discover any benefits that alternative therapies have to offer. While medical professionals tend to disagree on the effectiveness of holistic methods, many people have found pain relief with chiropractic treatments, herbal supplements, massage, yoga, aromatherapy, and acupuncture.

Implementation

Your doctor will likely recommend that you follow a regimen of conservative treatment for several weeks or months to see if your bulging disc symptoms improve. Managing your symptoms now can help you prevent severe flare ups in the future. In most cases, the body eventually corrects a bulging disc through a natural healing process called resorption. This process can take quite a bit of time, however, which is another reason why learning how to manage your symptoms is so important to regaining an active lifestyle as quickly as possible.

It is also important to monitor your bulging disc and manage your symptoms so that the condition does not progress to herniation – a tear in the disc’s outer wall that could cause the inner disc material to extrude into the spinal canal. This can lead to sustained neural compression that, left untreated, could result in more severe and widespread symptoms of pain, numbness, and muscle failure.

Remember that any treatment regimen will likely take some trial and error before an ideal combination of treatments is achieved. Observe your symptoms closely during treatment so that you can identify which techniques are the most effective, and be sure to discontinue any treatments that exacerbate your discomfort.

Author Bio: Patrick Foote is the Director of eBusiness at Laser Spine Institute, the leader in endoscopic spine surgery. Laser Spine Institute specializes in safe and effective outpatient procedures for bulging discs and several other spinal conditions.

Category: Medical Business
Keywords: Bulging disc