What Are Spinal Disk Problems?

Nearly everyone knows somebody who has a “bad back” if they don’t happen to have such a condition themselves. Some of these problems can be traced to bad posture, muscle stiffness or weakness, and other conditions. But many individuals suffer from serious, limiting problem with the disks that make up the spine.

Maybe it would be best to get a closer look at just what the spine is and what disks are. Human spines and the spines of many animals are made up of vertebrae. This are the individual bones that are located one on top of another to extend the spine from the pelvis region to the base of the skull. Disks are softer tissue that separate the individual vertebrae, providing cushioning and allowing for flexibility.
When someone experiences extreme pain in some part of the spine, the cause could lie in one or more of these disks. X-rays and other diagnostic procedures can help doctors determine just where the problem is. With almost every spinal disk problem, rest and pain relief prescriptions are a first step. It is necessary to reduce the inflammation of tissue in and around the disk, if that is the problem. Disks can wear and degenerate with time, so it doesn’t always take an injury or accident to start problems with disks.

The pressure on very sensitive nerves in the spine can cause severe pain if disks degenerate or move in an abnormal way for any reason. Some people are almost immobilized by the intensity of the pain. Disks are soft and flexible and may also herniate. A disk is “herniated” when it moves from its normal position. This causes pain as well, especially because of the abnormal contact with the spinal nerves mentioned earlier. Any of these situations can cause significant pain where the disk is, but there may also be pain in other parts of the back and in the legs.

In some cases, the disk may move back to a more natural position, especially if the herniated condition is not extreme. An individual might recover from this condition with rest and mild medications. If the injury or movement of the disk is severe enough, the disk may rupture and leak some of its jelly-like center. This is permanent and very painful damage that may require surgery, disk removal or trimming etc. Many people who have had these procedures advise others to turn to surgery as a last resort.

Some of the treatments for various levels of spinal disk problems are: removal of a small amount of the disk so it doesn’t impact nerves; removal of part of the disk to relieve pressure; fusion, in which some vertebrae are joined to provide more stability in the back; laminotomy, in which some of the vertebrae’s bone material is removed to relieve pressure on the nerves.

It is also possible to replace a damaged disk with man-made replacement materials. Some doctors used to use chemical injection, though this is not used as much as it once was.