Mysteries of the Spinal Disk

50% of the population have one, or more, bulging disks in their spine.  None of them have any pain.  Why is it then that people panic when they are told that they have a bulging disk?  The simple answer is a lack of understanding regarding the spine and especially the disk.  Here are the simple truths regarding disks.

 

Disk Facts

• 50% of the population, without pain in their spines, have bulging discs.
• MRI findings are frequently inaccurate.  The MRI often fails to give an accurate picture of the spine.  Many time disks are shown to be bulging that do not indeed bulge at all (and vice versa).
• Research has only been able to generate disk injuries when the spine is in a flexed position (i.e. bent forward).  In other words, if you can keep your back in an erect position you can avoid disk injuries.
• The best way to injure the disk is to bend forward and twist your back at the same time.
• There is more pressure on your spine in a seated position than in a standing position.
• The biggest risk factors for a disk injury are: sitting, bending forward, bouncing/vibrating(driving), and twisting.
• There are really only two types of disk injury.  One injury involves the disk bulging out in a particular place on the disk (think of a worn-out tire where the rubber has gotten thin.  In the thin area a bubble will show up).  The second way to injure a disk is for the disk to actually tear.  This is like ripping a piece of paper.  When this happens the fluid inside the disk leaks out.  This fluid is highly irritating to the adjacent nerves and can cause significant pain.
• Rotating the spine (think of looking back behind you) causes the pressures inside the disk to increase by a factor of four.  Rotating the spine also causes the disk to lose 50% of its integrity or strength.  This is why rotating the spine places you at high risk for disk injury.
• Never stretch your back in the morning.  When resting at night, your disks swell up with fluid.  When the disks swell, they separate the adjacent bones that they connect.  This means that the outer part of the disks (that connects the bones together) are stretched maximally taunt.  If you stretch in the morning, you will over stretch the disks.
• 90% of the fluid in the disk will be squeezed out after the first hour of getting out of bed.  The first hour of the day is the easiest time to provoke a disk injury because the disk is swollen and stretched tight.

 

Disk Myths

• You can slip a disk.  This is simply not true.  The disk is not a separate structure that lies in between the bones.  The outer layers of the disk actually connect adjacent bones of your spine together.  The disk, because it is a connector of the bones, would have to be sheared in two in order for the bones of the spine to slide horizontally away from each other.  This would result in a catastrophic, paralyzing accident.
• Chiropractic manipulation can fix the disk.  The fact is no treatment can fix the disk.  Once you have developed a bulge in the disk it is there to stay.  The disk bulge can decrease in size as inflammation reduces and scarring takes place but the injured site will always remain a weak point in the disk.
• I will always have back pain because of my disk injury.  50% of the population have bulging disk without any pain.  A bulging disk is not a desirable commodity but at the same time it is not something that should cause you great distress.  Also, remember that 90% of back pain, regardless of the tissue involved, will resolve within one year.
• I will need surgery to repair my disk injury.  You can lead a normal life without surgery to repair your disk.  In fact, long-term studies have shown that people that avoid surgery to repair a disk experience less pain over time.
• I need a significant accident in order to produce a disk injury.  Unfortunately, a disk can be injured by an activity as simple as bending over to pick up a pencil off the floor.  This should encourage you to execute good body mechanics at all times and not just during heavy lifting tasks.