Bulging Disc Treatment Sydney
Have you been diagnosed with a bulging disc? Hearing that you have a real-life injury involving your vertebrae and potential affecting your spinal cord can be incredibly confronting and worrying – let alone painful and debilitating. The good news is that back, neck and referred pain associated with a bulging disc is extremely common – but it could be a lot worse. Better still, your friendly Sydney chiropractor at Longueville Road Chiropractic Centre (LRCC) is specially trained and highly experienced and proficient in implementing treatment for a bulging disc that can really make a difference.
What is a bulging disc?
First, the good news. A herniated disc means the outer covering of the vertebral disc – a strong elastic pivot for each of your spine’s individual joint segments providing stability, protection and motion – has actually ruptured or torn. The jelly-like innards – the nucleus pulposus – then leaks out into the actual spinal canal, causing a whole range of potentially serious problems. Typically, a bulging disc is not so serious, as the disc itself has not ruptured but instead is simply sagging or bulging, a bit like the way your car’s tyre bulges at the bottom when flat.
It’s caused by age and natural disc degeneration, your lifestyle and physical activities, and perhaps also a combination of some of the following:
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Bad posture
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Lifting, strain, injury, trauma
- Weakened back muscles
- Certain sporting activities.
What to watch out for
If you’re reading this page, chances are you already know the typical symptoms of a bulging disc – the most common being back or neck pain and even muscle spasms. Sometimes, though, the pain can be mild or feel more like a nerve-like tingling sensation or numbness that can extend to your buttocks, into your thighs and extremities including fingers and feet. If the sciatic nerve is affected, one side of the body is more affected than the other, and in severe cases, compressed nerves can cause other problems such as bladder incontinence and conditions that are even life-threatening.
Bulging disc diagnosis
When you present with the symptoms of a bulging disc, your doctor or chiropractor will:
- Ask about your medical history and lifestyle
- Check for tenderness
- Ask you to move into certain positions
- Check for muscle strength, mobility, reflexes.
In most cases, although scans may sometimes be requested, a detailed physical exam should be enough to make a clear diagnosis and begin your disc bulge treatment. Typically this includes a combination of activity and lifestyle modification, pain medication, muscle relaxers and even cortisone injections. If the disc is not herniated, surgery to remove the bulging disc section or even replace the entire disc with an artificial one is extremely rare.
Chiropractic treatment for a bulging disc
Normally, if the most conservative treatment options are not successful, the most effective treatment for bulging disc problems begins with an initial visit to a chiropractor near you. That’s because it’s the route with the best record for success that is also non-invasive, extremely safe and involves no drugs, injections or medication – just a hand-in-hand, detailed and fully personalised approach to finding the solutions that work for you.
Your chiropractor, including the highly proficient team at LRCC, looks beyond the spinal disc in question to take a whole-of-body approach to your wellbeing. The most effective bulging disc treatment is a combination of attention to the specific site, the entire spine, and a customised program involving self-care, exercise, mobility, strengthening and even nutritional recommendations. The goal is to keep you as active and pain-free as possible throughout the treatment period whilst also addressing the core of the problem which could be spinal misalignment.
Get treatment for bulging disc symptoms today
Your chiropractor is highly skilled in precisely deploying gentle, low-force adjustment techniques to relieve pain and address joint restriction and dysfunction through spinal manipulation. They know exactly how to stretch the spine safely, deviate the disc from nearby nerves and reduce inflammation. Sometimes, specialised cervical or lumbar traction equipment can help to open up the spinal joints and enable the bulge to resolve, but in most cases conventional chiropractic treatment results in the most lasting results resulting in less or no pain, restored mobility and the quality of life you seek.
Are you experiencing pain and/or symptoms and interested in safe, effective, non-invasive, drug-free and long-lasting treatment? At Longueville Road Chiropractic Centre, we can tailor the right treatment for a bulging disc just for you – so why not get in touch with our friendly team today?
