Bulging Disc Lumbar Spine

The lower back is known is where the lumbar spine is at. It is the place where many people experience much back pain and suffering. There are five discs in this section and they are between the vertebrae. With an injury or other type of trauma there can be tears or bulges to tissues and the nucleus pulposus (the center) can start to push out. The pushing out of this part can put pressure on nerves and cause chemical reactions that cause the nerve fibers to send a pain message to the brain.

The lower back area is very susceptible to injury and problems because there is no rib cage to protect the area like there is in the thoracic region. Plus, the complete lower bottom portion of the body is based around this part. The hips and legs go up and meet at the sacrum and then to the low back. This makes it one of the most prime areas that cause pain and discomfort.

When a disc is bulging out and putting pressure it can have symptoms of constant pain or it can cause symptoms that are worse when sitting around or not moving and it feels better when you walk around. Not only does it hurt right in the area but it can radiate to other areas. You can have discomfort in the back of the leg which can cause sciatica, or it can cause a diffuse distribution as to where more of a general area hurts.

You will want to get a complete diagnosis of what is going on in the area with physical exam where the Doctor takes into account all of your subjective symptoms and then correlates them with the findings from a physical exam. If positive findings come up where further tests are needed then you might need x-rays or an MRI to further investigate the cause. Make sure that the Doctor does reflex tests and muscle strength tests to see if there is some type of compression going on with the nerve, either at the root level or more distal to the back. Many patients can leave out many important history notes, such as previous accidents, it is usually not because they don't want to but rather they can't remember. When you are forty years old it can be tough to remember back when you were eighteen and had a severe football injury. All of this information is needed by the Doctor to diagnose the condition and then make sure the correct treatment is given.