Disc injuries are very common and very treatable with conservative care.  Other disc injuries include tears and bulges.  These injuries may be the result of a trauma or accident, but are more commonly the result of poor posture, prolonged sitting and poor repetitive movement patterns.  These faulty positions and movements are very stressful to the discs and over time wear them down, leaving them vulnerable to injury.

Discs are made of cartilage and they do not have a good blood supply, therefore they do not heal well on their own.  Most tissues depend on blood flow in order to get nutrients and oxygen that they need, and to get rid of wastes.  Because the discs do not have a good blood supply, they get their nutrients and remove wastes through their surrounding tissues, mainly the vertebrae.  This happens through movement.  For this reason, it is important to restore and maintain healthy movement patterns.

Treatment

Treatment for disc injuries includes determining the causes of stress to the disc and correcting them.  This is done through postural correction, soft tissue therapy to remove adhesions and restore normal function, gentle joint manipulation to enhance biomechanics, and functional rehabilitation to develop core stability and train healthy movement patterns to not only protect the discs, but to allow them to receive nutrition and oxygen and get rid of wastes effectively.