Every year, many Americans are diagnosed with bulging and herniated discs - and many others have undiagnosed issues! Let’s dig into how chiropractic can naturally assist your body in relief and healing.

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Chiropractic Care for Bulging & Herniated Disc in Rochester

What is the difference between a bulging, ruptured, herniated, or slipped disc?

Your spine consists of 33 vertebrae, each separated by spongy discs to act as cushions between the bones and shock absorbers as you move. The discs have a thick skin, with a gel-like center.

A slipped disc has lost its normal shape and placement. Bulging happens when the disc becomes dehydrated and compressed, causing the skin to be compromised and the gel to bulge out.

Rupture or herniation is the next step, where the disc’s outer skin has broken and the gel may actually escape.

All of this can cause pressure and inflammation on the nerve roots that exit the spinal cord, with symptoms like pain, tingling, and numbness, along with other more subtle signs of dysfunction.

But how did the disc health become compromised in the first place?

Spinal health is affected by physical, chemical, and emotional stressors.

Physical traumas such as car accidents or falls can misalign the vertebrae so that they are putting uneven pressure on the discs. This can also occur as microtraumas, repeated movements, and postures over time that shift the vertebrae out of their optimal position.

Pressure from vertebrae not only creates wear and tear on the disc but can prevent it from getting adequate nutrition and fluids.

Chemical stressors include not taking in proper nutrition and water to keep the discs healthy. Our body tends to “borrow” necessary nutrients from bones and tissues to keep more essential processes intact.

How does emotional and mental stress affect the spine? You’ve undoubtedly seen someone slumped over in defeat. We associate an adult going into the fetal position with defensive emotions. We say we “carry the weight of the world” on our shoulders, and may associate frustration with increased tension in our bodies.

Emotional stress definitely affects our posture, which can pull and shift the vertebrae out of alignment.

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How Chiropractic Benefits People with Bulging or Herniated discs

It doesn’t matter how much water you drink or how many pain pills you take, if your vertebrae are misaligned they need to put adjusted back into place by a chiropractor!

We identify where there are misaligned bones putting pressure on the discs and nerve roots, called subluxations. Then we specifically adjust those joints back into alignment.

Depending on your body, it may take time and repetition for the body to hold that alignment, much like exercises or physical therapies must be done consistently for the best results.

Removing the interference, allows the body to properly communicate via the nerves and to begin healing the disc.

A case study in a 1998 Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics shared how a 26-year old benefitted from chiropractic care. He presented with “low back pain, left groin pain, left leg pain, left foot drop and associated muscle weakness with atrophy.” He was diagnosed with a disc herniation and surgery was recommended.

He opted for more conservative care, however. After 90 days of chiropractic care, including activator adjustments, his symptoms all resolved!

This can be truly life-changing as surgery and other interventions present their own risks.

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The Benefits of a Spinal Decompression Table

At Vitality Chiropractic in Rochester, we’re excited to have another tool to complement chiropractic adjustments: a spinal decompression table!

While chiropractic adjustments alone can get great results, there are some cases that require something more.

Decompression is a non-surgical technique used for spinal disc injuries, or for herniated or protruding discs. The table helps to create more space between the segments of your spine, relieving the pressure on the vertebrae, using traction to help increase blood flow and nutrition into your discs.

Because of how it helps relieve pressure from bulging discs, combined with chiropractic care, some patients have even been able to cancel surgeries with this therapy!