The spine is actually made up of vertebrae or bones where you will find cartilage disc between the bones. This disc contains a gel-like substance in the center which makes the spine flexible and at the same time acts as shock absorber. When the soft part of the disc (center) bulges out it puts some pressure to the nerve roots or spinal cord and this we call slipped disc. Unfortunately most patients with slipped disc do not know until its later stage because they do not exhibit any symptoms at all.
Slipped disc usually happens when the connective tissue surrounding the gel like form breaks allowing the soft part to swell. This often strikes those people who are advance in age already although there are cases where it can strike any age due to injury. Slipped disc most often affects the lower back since the lower back is the one that experience much load and activity.
As stated above you can have slipped disc without really knowing about it. Most symptoms come out in the later stage and the major sign is pain due to the pressure in the nerve roots. One often feels pain that spreads out to the arms or legs, muscle spasm and in worst cases affects the control in the bladder.
Diagnosis is made through looking at the patient’s history and of course physical examination. And in determining which disc is affected then Myelography, CT Scan or MRI scan is use. It is the doctor who will decide which examination is necessary for you. An X-ray is usually done too but not use very often than the three mentioned above.
It is important that your doctor can identify the problem right cause there are other back conditions that exhibits the same signs and symptoms. Treatment for such depends on the severity of your condition. Most patients who have mild slipped discs may still be treated using the conventional method of treatment which does not include surgery at all.
But for cases where it is severe then surgery is necessary. It is important though that you discuss the procedure with your doctor thoroughly and know that surgery does not guarantee a hundred percent success. Surgery does not really work for anyone.
There are three main ways where surgery can be done for slipped disc and this are the Standard surgery which is often called as open discectomy, microdiscectomy and percutaneous discectomy. That is why you need to discuss everything with your doctor and know the risk as well as the benefits that you get from such slip disc surgery procedure.