Now before your mind starts racing to think that bulging disc in the neck is a severe issue, let me assure you, it is treatable! It’s not something that you have to live with for the rest of your life. Of course there are different stages of severity. It can be a small bulge to sometimes large enough to compress the nerves and cause constant pain and tingling. In the most severe cases surgery is the only option but thankfully that’s not common. Phew! sigh of relief hey? So the good part is with some physio and lots of care, you can be pain free. But like anything else in life consistency is the key. The more consistent you are with following the activity modifications and the exercises that the physio has recommended, the better chances you have of having long term results. So here are 3 things to note when it comes to bulging discs in the neck:
Your phone could be aggravating the bulging disc in the neck
With more and more people working from their phones these days, this has certainly become an aggravating factor. The thing is bending puts tremendous pressure on the discs in the spine. Basically discs are made up of a gel like substance surrounded by a fibrous ring. Usually the disc acts like a shock absorber. Which means anytime you do something strenuous, the discs will absord that pressure. But any sort of repetitive action like repetitive lifting or bending can put a lot mroe strain than the discs can tolerate and this causes bulging disc in the neck. So bulging is basically , inflammation or swelling of the disc due to increased pressure on it. This is exactly what prolonged bending like when you’re looking into your phone does. So it’s best to have your phone at your eye level whenever you’re doing anything. It’s not practical right? I know! That’s the whole point! You can’t hold your phone at your eye level for more than a few minutes at a time so that will give your neck a break and prevent you from having a bulging disc in your neck.
Prolonged sitting can cause bulging disc in the neck!
Our bodies were defintiely not designed for sitting. Max 30 minutes is what your spine can tolerate at a time. Especially of you’re sitting slouched or on a poor posture which most of us are guilty of. Prolonged sitting i.e for more than 30 minutes at a time will also put massive amounts of pressure causing bulging disc in the neck. This is exactly why office workers are prone to it. A lot of people believe that bulging disc in the neck can only happen because of an “injury” like an accident or a fall. But the truth is that it can also happen due to repetitive strain on the structures of the neck.
A lot of my patients have now started using a reminder on their phones to get up and take a quick walk aroudn the office or to the loo and get out of that sitting position. I cannot stress enough how important it is to not let yourself get lost in the work and sit for hours on end. There are more and more studies incriminating this simple act of sitting to neck pain and back pain.
And finally Physiotherapy can treat bulging disc in the neck!
After treating people suffering from neck pain for over 15 years now, I can definitely assure you that Physiotherapy can treat bulging disc in the neck! Remember, pain is not normal. So you must really see a physio at the first sign of neck pain. Of course it’s human nature to procrastinate but I definitely get better and quicker results for people who come in within 1-2 weeks of getting pain. The longer you are in pain, the longer it can take to get rid of it. Or things can get worse like you can start getting nerve pain due to the bulging disc in the neck pushing on a nerve. Another issue is a lot of people think physiotherapy is only if you get injured like in a sport or accident etc. But it’s not! Physiotherapy was designed to for pain releif without medication and to improve people’s lives. So don’t wait to get yourself treated.
Our physios do a full assessment of your pain and are able to diagnose a bulging disc in the neck without scans or X rays. We then work on improving joint mobility and releasing the muscle tension which helps greatly with pain relief. We also then give you the tips and tricks to prevent this issue from reoccuring. As with any treatment, we need your help with following our recommendations for long term results.