By in Joints & Muscles, Yoga & Pilates

What you need to know about Your Spine and “Slipped Discs”

Perhaps you have heard of the “Slipped Disc” or the slightly more correct term “Disc Prolapse”. Perhaps you know someone who has suffered or is suffering from this, or maybe you have been diagnosed with a herniated disc. Many of my clients are dealing with a vertebral disc issue without ever really having been explained what it is, why it happens and what can be done about it.

First of all, if you have a basic look at a picture or model of a spine you will easily see, that the spine is made up of a series of complex-looking bones called vertebra, which is separated by intervertebral discs. These discs are made of a dense, but somewhat squishy collagen-based material. They also have a gel-like core at the centre. The spine is also curved into something like an S shape. We tend to separate the spine into 4 different areas, based on the 2 concave and 2 convex curves. The neck is called cervical. At the base of the neck begins the thoracic part of the spine, where the curve starts to reverse. The thoracic spine also is part of the rib-cage. At the base of the 12th rib, the thoracic spine reverses again and shapes the lumbar spine. At the base of this sits the sacrum and coccyx, which shape the back of your pelvis and tailbone. In this area, the vertebra have fused together. Each disk provides a little bit of movement into forward flexion, backwards extension, side-bending and rotation. The lower part of the spine, the lumbar area, provides less movement but more stability. While each disk can only provide a little bit of movement, all disks together allow the spine its all-over flexibility.

Disc pathology is very common, however, there is no such thing as a “Slipped Disc”, this term is used interchangeably with “disc prolapse”. It gives us the idea that the disc has literally slipped out from between the vertebra. This is however not the case. The common “slipped disc” describes a vertebral disc, that has experienced too much movement over a length of time. Due to repetitive increased movement patterns in this segment, the inner gel-like core of the disc has started to protrude usually backwards and slightly sideways. We all may have these disc prolapses in our spine somewhere without feeling anything, however they can cause problems when they make contact with a nerve in the area and irritate it. Then we can experience back pain and or nerve pain down the leg or arm.

Disc prolapses usually appear in areas where the curve of the spine reverses. These joints take the most stress and in stiff, poorly moving bodies they create literally hinge points, from which most of our spinal movements then comes. These areas are at the base of the lumbar spine, at the base of the thoracic spine and at the base of the cervical spine.

Disc prolapses can be very painful and debilitating. However, there can be warning signs that help us become aware and start to take action early. Disc prolapses or herniations are also absolutely able to recover. However, it takes consistent intervention and care.

Whether you are dealing with a niggly back that carries the signs of early disc trouble or whether you are recovering from a full-blown disc prolapse, the action you must take is rather similar. Unfortunately getting a couple of massages and attending a local yoga class usually is not enough. Both may well help in the short term, as you help your soft tissue relax, taking most of the pain away and you are keeping active, which means blood flow to the injured area is increased, helping the injury heal. Long term, however, the hyper-mobile, worn-out disc is just experiencing more wear and tear. What is needed is a change in your spinal movement patterns.

The problem is that the underlying issue needs to be addressed in order for the disc to be able to truly recover and no longer get worn out through excessive movements. No matter what exercises you practice that are meant to mobilise or stabilise your spine, the exercises are unlikely going to change the fact that the movement is coming from the so very mobile segments unless you are practising them with the guidance of a movement expert or very skilled Pilates teacher, who can help you achieve more even articulation of all your spinal segments so that the injured disc can do less and recover long term, while the rest of the spine can be challenged into mobilising more, which will also promote more health in these segments that have become passive and stiff. Some manual therapy and massage may also help you initially getting those stiff areas moving again.

Pilates, Yoga and Sports Therapy are all very popular when it comes to disc pathology rehabilitation along with Physiotherapy of course. There is a still very popular idea in these industries, that strengthening muscles around the spine and hips are key for a recovering disc pathology. However, it is not as straight forward as it is made out to be. If a “stronger core” could fix our disc problems none of us would still be dealing with them. The idea of core strength is a theoretical idea that is very far away from what is natural and often misunderstood. Workouts that focus on contracting muscles around the trunk or in the pelvis, in fact, can cause more harm. When muscles are being engaged consciously they shorten, pulling their attachment points and the affected fascia closer together. This can create a sense of stability, however, the manual contracting of muscles and soft tissue tension created adds compression to the vertebral discs affected.

So, while disc pathologies are very common a very considerate approach is needed. Some people recover quickly, while others seem to be unable to move on from the pain and recurring problems. This is an indication of how what we do all day long affects our recovery. We may do a lot of recovery exercises that make us feel better momentarily. Then we feel pressured to lift our children or sit for long periods at work. Neither will be helpful with our recovery.

However specific exercises that help our spine work better as a whole while we avoid the activities that cause stress to our worn-out disc have a good chance of full recovery. The most important thing for you to know is that while it takes commitment to recover, a disc prolapse does not mean you are injured for life. There are many examples of people who suffered from severe disc prolapses and who enjoyed all sorts of physically challenging activities later, from power-lifting to cross-fit training and circus arts.

If you would like some guidance with the recovery of your disc prolapse and you are outside of the acute phase of an injury, please contact Kristin at The Body Matters on 01702 714968.

Kristin Loeer
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