Bulging disc

[Ozzie]

I have just been diagnosed with a bulging disc in my back after a week-end of excrutiating pain. I don't want it to take over my life, in that I love to be active and I am scared that I won't get it back to what it was. Does anyone know if walking is good for this problem. I exercise a lot usually and feel bad not doing anything at all. I don't want to exascerbate the pain though so would appreciate any advice. I am not going to have any surgery now or ever!

[ginkgo]

This is a serious thing. The discs shrink during the day due to gravity but grow after sleeping all night. So being horizontal is the best thing for it. So you could swim since in water you are almost weightless.

Get plenty of sleep now and the rest of your life. You can exercise, eat, sunbathe and drink water too much but you cannot sleep too much. Why not? Because it is not in your control. If you do not need sleep you will not be able to do it (not talking about the stupid stage 1 sleep that is not sleep). Try sleeping for 10 hours after getting a full night's sleep of 9 hours. You will not be able to do it. Why is this so hard to understand? You can't do it if you do not need it. Try to vomit on an empty stomach. You can gag but you cannot vomit.

You could also use wet heat while lying down to help it heal. Stretching is also good for the back like yoga. This is for later on and the rest of your life to prevent this from happening in the future. While you are lying down the discs expand with water and nutrients entering them. So make sure to get enough nutrients like omega-3s.

Also you can see a special chiropractor that knows how to measure what is wrong and by how much. See this site for that. It tells about the governor of CA, Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong going to a chiropractor regularly.

[chrisrushton]

Second the swimming. It's excellent exercise. It's also good to spend time in a sauna. Coincidentally, those 2 pastimes are often located right next to each other.

[TonyToneTone]

A good chiropractor should be able to help you. My old roommate suffered from something similar and I took him to a good chiro and now he is fine.

[Dharma]

Ozzie,
Which disc are we talking about?

[Miss Moo]

I second Dharma's question, as in which disc are we talking about?
Most back problems can be helped by exercise and in particular, water exercises, however I do have a friend (who is 22) who has a problem with fluid leaking from her disks, where doctors recommended not using water exercises. I think you should try and find a doctor who has experience in your particular circumstances.

Surgery is a last resort - I was born with an extra half vertebrae that causes scoliosis (as of an xray 7 years ago I have about a 48% angle on my spine) - and the doctors told me they would only operate if I wanted to, pretty much if it became very difficult to walk.

My father has a very bad back due to a car accident, and the same doctor who saw me, who is a back expert in my state, told him that the reason he was doing so well after the accident was because he remained active (walking, water exercises) and that he wished more of his patients were as active as him.

All I can say is that it matters how it happened and where it happened, and it matters who you see for help. Look for a doctor who other people recommend. I hope this helps.

[sundog]

Using an inversion table on a mild angle can help relieve pressure. Lying back on an exercise ball can do similar things. I'm not sure what the cause is in your situation but I had an issue because one of my hips was higher than the other. Myotherapy fixed it up for me.

[victoria stiles]

As the name implies, it is a condition wherein the disc bulges out and this happens when the substance inside becomes dislocated and pushes on the outer covering causing it to stick out. In many cases, bulging disc pain may not even be felt, specifically when there are no nerve impingements found. Many doctors recommend bulging disc patients to take it easy; by minimizing the flexion of the spine and frequency of sitting, and bending the knees instead of the back when picking something up from the ground, you can permit the disc to heal itself. Some patients can also get relief through specific exercises for sciatica and yoga styles.

[codenamesmiley]

LOL I was just sharing my pictures and story on another network and came here and found this.



This was y neck in 2006. They wanted to do two double fusions and incidentally found brain issues that forced me to wait two years to be cleared for surgery.

In pure frustration, I decided to meditate on this when I was in severe pain. About 10 minutes twice a day when then pain seemed to be so unbearable the only thing I could do is meditate. (the deadly concoction of pills that they had me on weren't doing a thing for the pain)

fast forward two years



Of course I put on 35 lbs in comfort eating (the brain stuff was life-threatening) and from anti-depressants.

You will note that the neck is much straighter, the disks appear to be more evenly spaced as opposed to 2006. By that time I was off all the meds, too.

I am sure by now I can add to this as I have learned much more in healing since those days. I intend to blog about it real soon. You can contact me if you would like to learn more in the meantime.

Have a blessed day,
Rebecca

P.S. I thought I'd return to add that they wanted to do a triple fusion in my lumbar as well. I will have to dig for those as well. I haven't been back for that lumbar surgical consult. Why bother? Some days it tricks up on me, but maybe twice a year as opposed to its typical every other week back in 2006 (I was a mess back then)

[SireneB]

A friend of mine, young, very active (dancer and training XMA at the time he was injured) was diagnosed with a bulging disc about 3 years ago. He was in a lot of pain initially, but he made it a point to walk a mile every day, no matter what (I'm sure you could substitute another gentle exercise like swimming, the point is to keep moving in some way). He was under a doctor's care and had one cortisone injection (my understanding is that this steroid reduces inflammation at the site), and after that purchased an inversion table and spent time on it several times a day. It took him 2-1/2 years to get back to where he felt completely normal and able to go back to his workout regime. But he is now back to full activity.

I pretty much have gotten a day by day report of this, as he is my housemate and I have been his walking partner.

Point being ... be patient and don't give up.

[codenamesmiley]

I guess I got so busy making the point, I left out what I did in meditation.

All I did was spin bright green light clockwise (if looking down thru the spine) in the areas that hurt. I did this for like 10 minutes at a time (you can do it for longer) and you can do it a couple times a day and you will notice improvement over time.

Ice is the best thing you can do on location for it.