A very detailed picture showing various causes of lower back pain

There are different types of disc injuries.

These injuries can range from mild tearing to the outermost layer of the spinal disc to a tear completely through the disc to the extent that the inner disc material bulges (aka “herniates”) out. The more severe disc injuries usually are more debilitating and include pain, numbness & tingling, or even weakness in the buttocks or legs.

When the disc tear is deep enough that the inner disc (the nucleus pulposus) extrudes through the tear, this is a herniated disc. The material that herniates is the nucleus, and when it pops out of the disc it comes into contact with nerves, causing intense pain. Sometimes this pain is most severe with specific movements such as getting out of a chair. Other times, the most painful thing is leg movement, or rolling over in bed. Maybe you had a lot of activity yesterday and now today it’s hard to get out of bed. Maybe you can’t walk without being hunched over to the side and hobbling like a cripple. Large disc tears and herniations  will make you feel just like that.

Minor injuries to only the outer disc can cause pain in just the low back, pain in the buttocks, or pain in the posterior leg, not to mention pain in the lower leg or numbness and tingling in all of the above. It can be just some small bit of all that, or a bunch of it, or somewhere in between. A minor disc injury featuring only a small tear in the annulus fibers (the outer disc) can cause nothing more than maybe a clicking feeling (or not) and some sort of burning pain in the low back. Maybe the buttocks has a steady ache with clenching upper butt muscles. Maybe the entire posterior thigh is burning and the toes are numb. These are all possible presentations for minor disc injury. The tricky thing is that right sacroiliac (SI) joint pain and facet joint pain both can appear very similarly to minor right disc inflammation pain. Which is why you should see a doctor with at least an interest in the spine if you want a good diagnosis for pain related to your spine. It sounds obvious…and it is. Still, it’s good advice since most people still don’t follow it.

Important Consideration

You have to assume that laypeople are using the term imprecisely when they say that they have a slipped disc, or a herniated disc, or something like that. It’s not because the other person is unintelligent. More likely, it is because the specifics of differing types of disc injury are usually not explained to people, and many people do not particularly care about the details. Sometimes even doctors without an interest in the spine and nervous system will similarly use terminology loosely and describe things incorrectly.

If you think you have a disc injury it is a good start to get an MRI to take a better look at the anatomy in question. If your signs and symptoms match up with the MRI findings, you can safely bet that the disc is the cause. Your next step is to do something about it. May I be so forward as to suggest you do the following:

Choose chiropractic rather than drugs, and rather than inaction or neglect which will cause your condition to worsen and eventually have you at a place where your only option is surgery. Chiropractic is good for you!

If you think chiropractic isn’t an appropriate treatment for a disc injury, then think again. It is. Even some MD’s don’t know that chiropractors routinely treat disc injuries. Many of these people get better. Not everyone gets better, but most of them do, and that’s not bad. There’s a ton of research showing chiropractic adjustments as effective for low back pain and sciatica. Chiropractic isn’t a pill. Chiropractic is a physical solution to a physical problem. Most of all, you don’t need to be hurt to benefit from chiropractic, so you can get adjusted and have a healthier spine and not be in pain. At our office we’d like to get you out of pain, show you strategies to avoid re-injury, and then adjust you every so many weeks so that your body stays on track and out of trouble.

Reference image:

An illustration of a cervical spine disc and associated anatomy.