What if I Told You…Your Discs Don’t Slip

I'm guessing you've heard someone say they have back pain because they "slipped a disc" or maybe even that they're getting treatment "to put the disc back in."

How about these - "I've had back pain ever since I slipped a disc",  "Don't bend over like that, you'll slip a disc!", "Don't lift that, it'll slip your disc!", "I can't do that I've got a slipped disc."

Sounds kind of scary doesn't it? And maybe all of us should be very careful with our backs so as to not have a "disc slip out of place."

Well, I've got excellent news for you!

Discs don't slip! They simply CAN NOT slip.

Here's why...Discs act a bit like shock absorbers in our spine and they form a joint that helps to hold the vertebrae above and below it together. Additionally, the discs are strongly attached to the vertebrae by means of bone and cartilage. So they can't just go slipping here and there and all over the place. Your discs are tremendously strong, they can withstand hundreds of pounds of compressive or tensile load.

So why do people say they "slipped a disc" when it can't physically happen? Well, the term is sometimes used interchangeably with a disc bulge or disc injury. When and where that all started we don't know for sure.

And...I have more good news for you! Discs can heal. Yes, you read that correctly. If you have a disc injury, it CAN heal. No need to worry about a lifetime of endless back pain. In fact, a lot of of disc "problems" don't even cause pain. Meaning, people who have NO back pain have disc bulges or degeneration on MRI. Read more about that here.

The take home points are these

• Discs don't slip

• Your spine is incredibly strong and durable

• Discs heal

• Disc injury often isn't the source of back pain in the first place.

If you have additional questions about back pain, please email me at amy@momentumptmt.com.

If you have back pain and want to know exactly what to do about it, click the link below to request our free back pain guide.