Bulging Disc Symptoms

The gel-like substance inside the vertebrae that absorbs any shock from impact loses its shape and position, leading to disc bulge. 35% of back-pain patients suffer from disc-bulge or disc degeneration and most of them are affected in the lower back. Read more about back and neck conditions among adolescents and young adults here.

A bulging disc might not cause any pain or give any symptom as it may not have reached a certain severity level and this might make it difficult to identify the condition before it shows up any symptom. However, when the disc gets pressed against a spinal nerve root, one may experience symptoms like pain, tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. The symptoms of bulging discs vary according to the severity of the bulge and the affected level of your spine.

• Neck and lower back pain that persists for a long time
• Continuous sharp pain in a specific area in the back.
• Pain that radiates to your buttocks, thighs, knees, and feet. This may be a result of nerve endings being pressurized at the lower spine.
• Back pain when coughing or sneezing
• Cramps, or spasms
• There is numbness or tingling in the legs or in hands, along with muscular weakness.

Get immediate medical care if:

• The pain is debilitating
• You lose bowel and bladder control
• There’s numbness and weakness in your limbs
• The pain doesn’t improve with medication or treatment
• Difficulty in performing small tasks involving fingers, wrists, feet, and toes.
• Constant night pain with reduced sleep.
• Loss of balance
• Blackout or ringing in ears

If there’s sciatica or a pinched nerve in the spine, it will interfere with your daily functioning.

Bulging Disc Causes

Many different factors cause disc bulge but the most common conditions that lead to bulging discs are as follows:

• Degeneration: Over a period of time, the hard exterior of the disc weakens, leading to disc bulge.
• Axial overloading (lifting): Among younger patients, a sedentary lifestyle leads to a constant static load on the back, causing a disc bulge.
• Body weight: Excess body weight, especially around the abdomen, put pressure on the lower back that the discs cannot sustain.
• Gradual wear and tear: Intense physical activity like engaging in contact sports, aging, any physical trauma, and even poor posture can lead to disc bulge.
• Spinal injuries – Injuries like a fall, car accidents, sports injury, etc can cause severe wear and tear in the spine to occur instantaneously hence leading to disc bulge or herniation.
• Bone spurs – These are bony protrusions that are formed along the edges of joints, and as they can grow into the disc space, they often cause bulging discs.

Besides these, other potential causes of the bulging disc are:

• Repetitive trauma due to poor posture, heavy lifting, or injury
• People leading a sedentary lifestyle
• Weak back muscles or poor muscle strength
• Activities that put a strain on the spine
• Injury caused by a sudden load on the spine like a car accident
• Sports
• Obesity
• Smoking