Whether in the lower back or neck, spinal disc issues can be particularly unpleasant for the sufferer.
Spinal discs are the shock-absorbing cushions between each vertebra in your spine. When they slip, bulge, or degenerate, you may experience pain, stiffness, or nerve symptoms that throw your whole life off balance. At our chiropractic clinic, we see how disc issues can start small—maybe just a twinge when you bend—then can grow into chronic discomfort. This guide will help you understand disc problems, spot the warning signs, and discover how chiropractic care could help you get back to feeling like yourself again.
What are spinal disc problems?
Your spinal discs consist of a tough outer ring (annulus fibrosus) and a jelly-like centre (nucleus pulposus). Over time or after an injury, the annulus can weaken, allowing the nucleus to:
- Bulge outward (disc bulge)
- Tear through the outer ring (disc herniation)
- Lose height and hydration (degenerative disc disease)
Any change in disc shape alters how forces travel through your spine and can press on nearby nerves, leading to pain and reduced mobility.
Common causes and risk factors
Disc issues don’t happen overnight. Contributing factors include:
- Age-related wear and tear: Discs dry out and become less flexible after age 30.
- Poor posture: Slouching or hunching shifts pressure away from the centre of the disc.
- Repetitive strain: Heavy lifting or bending day after day wears down disc fibres.
- Trauma: A fall, car accident, or sports injury can rupture a disc instantly.
- Genetics: Some people inherit weaker disc structure or faster degeneration.
Not all disc issues are suitable for chiropractic care, and some severe disc injuries can require surgery, so a comprehensive assessment is important, in order that we guide you in the right direction.
How to recognise symptoms
Disc problems manifest differently based on location and severity. Look out for:
- Localised back or neck pain that worsens when bending or twisting
- Radiating pain into arms, legs, buttocks, or shoulders
- Numbness, tingling, or “pins and needles” in the extremities. See nerve pain
- Muscle weakness or cramping
- Stiffness and reduced range of motion
If nerve roots are compressed, you may feel sharp, electric-like jolts, rather than an ache. Early detection and management could help prevent minor disc changes from becoming major issues.
Chiropractic solutions for disc health
Our chiropractic approach aims to reduce restriction, restore alignment, reduce nerve irritation, and promote natural healing. Treatment could include any of the following techniques:
- Spinal manipulations: Precise, hands-on corrections are designed to realign vertebrae and aim to relieve pressure on discs and nerves.
- Spinal decompression therapies: Gentle traction aims to creates space between vertebrae, encouraging bulging tissue to retract and easing nerve compression. Flexion-distraction is a specialised technique which aims to achieve this.
- Soft tissue techniques Trigger point therapy link?, vibration massage link? and stretching techniques link? loosen tight muscles and could break down scar tissue around discs.
- Rehabilitative exercises Core-stabilising and flexibility routines strengthen the muscles that support your spine, reducing future disc stress.
- Posture and ergonomic advice Tailored guidance on workstation setup, lifting mechanics, and sleep positions helps keep your spine aligned day and night.
Here you can see Matt demonstrate a technique called flexion-distraction, which chiropractors often use for lower back spinal disc problems. See our page on treatment techniques - flexion-distraction
Prevention and self-care strategies
Even if you’ve never felt a twinge, these practices protect disc health:
- Maintain a healthy weight to reduce spinal load.
- Stay active with low-impact exercises like swimming or Pilates.
- Practice good posture, especially when sitting for long periods.
- Lift safely: hinge at the hips, not the back.
- Hydrate well to keep discs plump and resilient.
Disc and/or nerve issues are often slower to improve with treatment when compared to joint and muscle complaints. This is quite normal however, as nerves are particularly slow at healing. It can often mean that the prognosis for recovery time for these types of complaints is longer, and nerve issues can take several months to feel significantly improved even with treatment. See our page on nerve pain for more information.
Rarely, lower back disc issues can be a medical emergency, and you should seek immediate emergency medical attention if you have any of the following symptoms associated with severe lower back pain: Numbness or tingling in the saddle area (around the genitals, buttocks, and inner thighs), bladder and/or bowel dysfunction (difficulty urinating or controlling bowel movements), and sexual dysfunction.
Get in touch
At Acomb Chiropractic Clinic, we are committed to helping you if we can. If you suspect that your discomfort may be related to a spinal disc problem, or if you are experiencing persistent back/neck pain, we encourage you to contact us for a personalised consultation. Our experienced chiropractic team will conduct a thorough assessment, explain our findings and what we think is possible in clear terms. If appropriate, we will develop a personalised treatment plan tailored to your specific condition and goals, aiming to maximise your possible benefit.
Not all complaints are appropriate for chiropractic care: If we think we cannot help your complaint, or you require more investigations, we will do our best to support you in finding you another path forward.