A bulging disc is sometimes referred as herniated disc but they do have a slight difference. A bulging disc is when a disc is bellying out. A good illustration of this is when you squish a balloon and it bulge out of your hand. That is what happens with a bulging disc. A herniated disc on the other hand involves not only bulging but also tearing or ripping of disc.
There are various treatment of bulging disc depending on the severity of the condition. But this treatment only offers temporary relief. In order to relieve you from any discomfort or pain it is important that your doctor can find the real cause and treat it thus disc bulge treatment should be started the moment the real cause is identified.
Treatment of Bulging Disc
Pain Relievers Medication
The most common medications you find for bulging disc are anti-inflammatory drugs, cortisone injection direct to the spinal canal, pain killers and muscle relaxants can help ease the pain felt from bulging disc. One downside is that the moment you stop taking it, the pain will come back. Taking it only cures the symptoms not the real cause of the pain. Know too that there are side effects in taking these medications for a long period of time thus it is important that you consult your doctor before taking any medication.
Chiropractic and Physical Therapy
You can find various techniques in chiropractic that can be use to ease bulging disc. The most common use procedure is spinal manipulation and traction which has a high percentage of success. If coupled with a good physical therapy then the result will be just great. The most common therapy to use in combination with chiropractic are some stretching and strengthening exercise, ice and hot packs, ultrasound and therapeutic massage.
Spinal Decompression Method
It is a non-drug and non-surgical alternative in treating bulging disc. It is proven to be highly successful in treating the real cause of the problem. It actually brings back the health of the disc thus brings the bulging back to its normal place letting the spine to heal naturally.
You will find several studies that supports non-surgical spinal decompression is effective in treating ruptured or bulging disc. One study showed that eighty-six percent of patients with ruptured intervertebral disc have “good” to “excellent” relief ( AJPM 1997).
Surgery
Surgery is not at all recommended thus it is only taken as your last option. If all the above methods fails then you still have one last option left and that is surgery. But you have to think it over carefully and consider the risks against the benefits that you get from it.
Identifying the real cause and treating it will eventually free you from any back discomfort and pain thus it is important that you do not only cure the symptoms but target the real cause of the problem.