Clarksville TN Chiropractor Discusses Herniated Discs
If you've been told you have a herniated disc, the next step is matching that finding to what you feel, then looking at your treatment options. At Source Chiropractic in Clarksville, that starts with your history and an exam, and we'll tell you plainly if chiropractic care makes sense for your disc or if we'd refer you on.
Herniated disc symptoms that can't wait
Go to an emergency room if you have new difficulty passing urine, any change in bladder or bowel control, numbness around the genitals or buttocks, or significant new leg weakness alongside back or leg symptoms. These can be signs of cauda equina syndrome. Please don't wait to see us first.
What is a herniated disc?
Each spinal disc has a softer center inside a tougher outer ring. In a herniated disc (often called a slipped disc), some of that disc material moves out past its usual space, where it may irritate or press on a nearby nerve. Some herniations cause no symptoms at all, while others cause pain, numbness, tingling or weakness.
Where you feel it depends on where the disc is. A disc problem in the lower back may send symptoms into the buttock or leg, and one in the neck may send them into the shoulder or arm.
"Bulge," "protrusion" and "extrusion" each mean something specific on an imaging report, and our disc injury glossary explains the difference.
Why do discs herniate?
Discs lose water as people age and can become less flexible. Repeated loading, lifting with a twist, and smoking are among the factors associated with lumbar disc herniation. The diagnosis itself doesn't pin the cause on one movement, or on something you did wrong.
How is a herniated disc diagnosed?
It starts with your symptom history and an examination, including neurological findings when they're relevant. If our exam calls for X-rays, they're part of your first visit here. An MRI can look at discs and nerves when it's called for, but an ordinary X-ray doesn't show a herniated disc directly.
A lump you've noticed on your back isn't how a disc problem gets diagnosed. If you have one, we want to hear about it along with the pain, and there's no need to call it a "bulging disc" before you've been examined.
The details that tell us most about how a disc is affecting your day:
- When it started, and if it's getting better, holding steady or getting worse.
- Where the pain travels, and any weakness or change in feeling you've noticed.
- What it does to walking, sitting, work and sleep.
- What you've already tried, and what changed afterward.
It helps to bring any reports and to tell us what your physician or anyone else treating you has recommended; we'll go over both. A disc diagnosis doesn't automatically mean an adjustment.
Where chiropractic fits among herniated disc treatments
No single next step is right for everyone with a herniated disc. Depending on how yours shows up, the options include activity changes, rehabilitation, medication, injections or a surgical assessment.
If chiropractic care makes sense for your disc, one of our chiropractors will tell you after the exam and build a plan around your condition and goals. Depending on those, it may include short-term recommendations, longer-term care options, or both. If we are not able to help you with your problem or are unable to reduce your pain levels, we will make sure to give you a recommendation to another experienced provider.
Adjustments carry risks: spinal manipulation can cause soreness or headache, and serious neurological complications have been reported, although how often they happen is uncertain. Your medical history affects which of those risks apply to you, and both are worth going over before you agree to any treatment.
Setting goals for herniated disc care
What is your disc keeping you from? A full work shift, sitting through a drive, a walk. We'll ask about it at the first visit because your goals shape what we recommend, and a concrete goal makes it easier to see if care is helping.
If your symptoms aren't an emergency and you've got a report that says herniated disc, contact our office and go over it with one of our chiropractors at a first visit. Our sciatica and neck pain guides cover disc symptoms that run down a leg or into an arm.
Follow the evidence
Research, with context.
Selected published sources behind what we've written, each with what it found and what it can't tell us. We give you both halves because no paper can diagnose you or predict how your own care will go.
Surgery versus prolonged conservative treatment for sciatica
283 patients with severe sciatica lasting 6 to 12 weeks, assigned early surgery or prolonged conservative care with surgery if needed.
What it foundEarly surgery provided faster relief and recovery, while one-year outcomes were similar.
What it can't tell usAbout 39% of those first assigned conservative care went on to have surgery. It wasn't a chiropractic trial, and it doesn't show that any treatment shrinks discs or guarantees avoiding surgery.
Publication details & citation
Peul et al. Surgery versus prolonged conservative treatment for sciatica. New England Journal of Medicine. 2007. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa064039.
Read the publication recordSystematic literature review of imaging features of spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populations
33 studies reporting imaging findings in 3,110 people without symptoms.
What it foundDegenerative findings were common in people without pain and became more frequent with age. A scan needs interpretation alongside symptoms and examination findings.
What it can't tell usThat doesn't make every disc finding harmless, or imaging never necessary. And a review like this can't identify what's causing one person's pain.
Publication details & citation
Brinjikji et al. Systematic literature review of imaging features of spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populations. American Journal of Neuroradiology. 2015. DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A4173.
Read the publication record
Our editorial policy explains how to read these sources and what our clinical-review labels mean.