What happens when you rupture a disk in your back?

Answer 1

I'll concentrate on the lower back. Looking down on the involved levels (L5-S1), the top is toward your abdomen (NOON) and the back is toward the back (6 O'clock). I'll describe what happens, referring to times on the clock. Between each vertebra are thick disks: these comprise of a thick wall on the outside, filled with a thick gel. This acts as a "shock absorber". Nerves travel down the spinal canal as a thick cord of nerves. Each nerve arises at a point in the brain, and travels down the cord, exits at its determined level and travels down the body to where it is designed to go/operate. Over the years these disks begin to wear out and flatten or possibly bulge out (like squashing a marshmallow). Sometimes, trauma --or bending or leaning with/without heavy lifting-- can cause a herniation in the side of this disk, and the resulting herniation can cause problems by pinching a nerve. If the herniation occurs at 5 o'clock or 7 o'clock, the herniation can pinch (trap) a nerve as it is preparing to leave the spinal cord and travel down the body, resulting in a severe burning pain and possibly muscle cramps if the nerve travels to the spasming muscle. If the herniation occurs at the NOON position, since no nerves are close by, there is no pain (actually, there can be pain, but it is not from nerves being pinched... there are pain fibers in the disk). If the herniation occurs at the 6 o'clock position no nerves will be trapped or pinched because there is a lot of space in the spinal canal where the spinal cord travels. Remember I said the nerve is a continuous fiber? Nerves operate exactly like electrical wiring in your house. They are covered with a protein called myelin that acts just like the plastic used on house wiring. We use wall switches to turn electricity on/off to light our houses. If you short across wiring anywhere between the positive wire (where the electricity runs) and the ground wire (the negative wire that completes the circuit) the light will go on. The same thing happens to nerves in the body. If you were to be able to isolate a nerve fiber running from your brain to your big toe, and stick it with a sharp pin anywhere between the brain and your toe, you would always feel the stick in your big toe! USUALLY (note the caps) a herniated disk will retract on its own, releasing pressure on the nerve, and the pain will disappear. this happens about 70% of the time. The disk will then scar in place, and you should not be bothered again. Occasionally a numb area (where the nerve went) will remain after healing.