Herniated disc "slipped disc" - A chiropractors view.

July 2011

Dr Maria Madge, Chiropractor,  talks to The Sports Injury Clinic (http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/) about Disc Protrusion / herniated disc ("Slipped Disc"). 
With this lower back injury a disc is found between the vertebra in the spine. When a disc is protruding (this is known traditionally as a "slipped disc" but is an inaccurate term) it can push on a number of structures, most commonly the nerve that exits at that level. A disc does not 'pop' out it squidges out without the whole structure leaving where it should be. Local pain will be felt in the back area, but disc related problems are also notorious for giving you buttock and leg pain depending on the level that you have got irritated . The lower down the disc the lower down the pain can reach. If the disc is at the bottom of the spine, for example, the pain can reach as far down as the foot.  Along with the pain a tingling, numbness and a loss of strength can be experienced. 
The early stages of disc problems give a moderate amount of pain with the leg symptoms, as well, which then progress to cause more and more pain. The best thing to do with a 'slipped disc' is to treat it as early as possible.
A chiropractor will aim to take the pressure off the nerve 
and re-establish the blood supply and the nerve supply down the leg which centralises the lower back pain and takes the pressure off the leg so the disc recovers.
In the early stages this can be done by fairly easily, but, if left, the disc becomes more and more protuded it is more difficult to return it to normal function. 
The facet joints where the disc is protuded is worked on to release the pressure off the disc which relieves the pain in the back and also the leg. If the pain is too acute in the disc area then there are a number of things that the chiropractor can do which involve tractional exercises and treatments to the leg which take the pressure off the nerve at that level. Soft tissue work and massage really help to take the pressure off from that level, as well as ice packs and general relieving of postural incorrectness'.

For more information on back pain and a herniated disc visit:
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/spo...