Herniated Disc Treatment – The Top 3 Things You Can Do From Home For Relief

Treatment for a bulging disc can be pretty discouraging, because most of the therapies available through traditional medical methods only provide temporary relief, if that. This article will discuss the most common therapies available for a bulging disc, as well as 3 simple tips you can use from home for relief.

But before we get into that, we need to discuss what a disc of the spine is, as well as what a bulging disc is, so you understand why the tips I will make in this article will help with relief.

The discs of the spine are cushions that are located between each set of vertebrae in the spine. Their main purpose is to absorb shock, which protects the vertebrae from too much force, which could cause quite a bit of pain.

Each disc of the spine is made up of two main parts – a strong outer covering called the annulus, and a soft jelly center called the nucleus. The jelly in the center is very important, because this is where the disc stores oxygen and nutrition in order for the disc to remain healthy, and heal if a problem ever occurs.

One of the things that complicates any disc condition is the fact that the discs of the spine do not receive a very good blood supply. Normally, the body uses blood to transport nutrients and oxygen to injured areas of the body, so they can heal more quickly. One of the recommendations I give you later in this article will help transport new nutrients and oxygen to the jelly of the disc for healing more quickly.

In the case of a bulging disc, the outer covering is damaged, and the jelly in the center begins to move into the area of the injury. This causes the disc to bulge against the spinal nerves, which leads to quite a bit of pain. In addition to this, because the nerves are agravated, this condition can also cause quite a bit of disability, simply because the spinal nerves control everything in the body.

In fact, one of the things you may not know about a spinal disc is that they can not feel pain, which sounds odd at first, but if you think about it, it makes sense considering the fact that they’re absorbing shock all day.

So, it’s important to understand that all of the pain is actually coming from the pressure on the nerve. This is truly the reason that most treatments for herniated discs are not successful for the long term – they are all primarily designed to address the painful nerve, which sounds good on the surface, but they do not really get to the source of the issue, which is the bulging disc.

For example, most doctors will begin by prescribing muscle relaxers and pain relieving medications, which are typically successful about 30% of the time. The reason for this is because they numb the nerve, but don’t do anything for the disc herniation.

Physical therapy is also usually prescribed, and although I’m a supporter of physical therapy, with this problem, it often doesn’t provide a long term result. The same is true for pain injections (such as cortisone and epidurals), which usually provide relief about 50% of the time, but the pain usually comes back.

Surgery has the lowest success rate of all (16% according to the medical journal Spine), which is why most doctors will do everything else before recommending surgery. Not only that, surgery is also temporary, and the pain usually returns within 5 years of having the surgery if you’re fortunate enough to experience relief to begin with.

This is why many have a difficult time finding a bulging disc treatment that will provide lasting relief. The good news is that there are actually a number of back disc treatments that are effective, and truthfully, it often requires a combination of specific treatments to lead to the end result you are hoping for.

In this article, I’m going to give you 3 simple back disc treatments that can be done from home, but understand this is only part of the solution – I’ll give you a helpful resource at the end of the article if you’d like to learn more. Each bulging disc treatment that I’m about to recommend needs to be followed as I outline for best results.

The first tip I’ll share with you is to use ice. Most people want to use heat with this problem, which is really the worst thing you can do. Heat will aggravate the nerve more, and cause additional swelling in the injured area, which also leads to more pain.

Ice will numb the aggravated nerve, and slow the inflammatory process, which will provide faster relief. If you want to see the fastest results with ice, you should use real ice rather than a substitute (such as frozen vegetables), and you should place the ice directly on the skin over the painful area.

Leave the ice on for 15 minutes maximum, or until you experience numbness, whichever occurs first. Then, repeat the ice treatment every hour – it will take 3 to 4 treatments before you experience any relief, and it often takes about 3 days to experience a considerable difference in your pain level.

The next bulging disc treatment I will share with you is actually a simple exercise utilizing a therapy ball. A therapy ball is one of those large balls you see in health clubs or physical therapy offices. People often use them for stomach exercises, however, the exercise I will recommend for you is actually very simple.

All you have to do is sit on the ball and gently bounce up and down for 5 minutes every day. Remember how we were discussing earlier how the jelly in the disc is where the nutrients and oxygen are stored for healing? This exercise will pump every spinal disc, which pumps new nutrients and oxygen into the disc for faster healing.

The final back disc treatments I will share today is another exercise utilizing a mini-trampoline. You can find a small trampoline (usually about 4 feet wide) at most sports stores, and you simply want to stand in the center of the trampoline and march in place for 5 minutes a day.

Don’t jump with this exercise – marching will cause the body to re-balance the muscles in the entire spine, which removes quite a bit of pressure off the injured disc. This exercise will go a long way for not only relieving the pain, but also for healing the bulging disc.

If you would like to learn more about the most effective back disc treatments, as well as the combination of those therapies that I recommend for the best results, you can click here (treatment for a back disc) to get all the details.

Did you find this article helpful? Here are some other related articles and resources you may also find useful:

• Here is a list of the best resources I've found for Bulging Disc / Herniated Disc relief
• Herniated Disc Treatments – Helpful Tips For Fast Relief
• Treatment Of A Herniated Disc – The Top 3 Things You Can Do From Home For Relief
• Treatment Of Bulging Discs – Home Care Tips For Fast Relief
• More Herniated Disc Resources