Causes of Slipped Disc

Milton has been working on cleaning the basement every afternoon for 2 days as he feels like doing spring cleaning on a hot summer day.

Hoping to save time in carrying things around, he piles over things before transporting them to a different corner of the basement; he placed a couple of boxes filled with old baseball stuff on a medium sized wooden coffee table. He lifts the coffee table, jerking a bit to adjust to its weight. He brings it to the farther end, carefully placing the table down. The weight seems to have strained his back, but the slight pain is tolerable. The plopped boxes let off a small cloud of dust – Achoo! Milton sneezes so hard that he almost threw his back down in front of him. Ouch! A strong, tingling pain just came through his lower back. The pain is getting strong and couldn’t almost move himself. He screams to his wife upstairs for help.

Looking at this situation, it may seem that Milton might have just strained his back too much with all the activity. But in medical diagnosis, he manifested the symptoms of someone who has a slipped disc. In this short article, we will determine what a Slipped Disc is and what is / are the primary cause/s of a slipped disc.

What is a Slipped Disc and how does it happen?

Though the term briefly describes the situation, it should not be taken literally. In the process, discs do not really slip out of their position as this is only possible for severe trauma and paralysis. What happens is that discs actually protrude out towards the spinal column. Perhaps, this is how it was interpreted when the movement causes the discs to be “slipped”

Also called Prolapsed Intervertebral Disc, Ruptured Disc or Cervical Radiculopathy Herniated Intervertebral Disc, the process of which it happens when intense amounts of pressure are placed on the discs, like in bending where the front pressure is on the spine’s front and stretching the back part of it. The pressure causes to open a gap in the spine, enabling the gel-like substance or the nucleus pulposus to bulge out. Thereby, applying pressure on some of the nerves of the spinal column. Usually, areas affected become inflamed and painful. Oftentimes, the pain extends down to the buttocks, a leg and foot. Some sufferers may describe the pain as having some “pins and needles” on the affected area.

The most commonly affected area of this condition is the lower back since it gets the most strain when lifting heavy objects or during jerky, sudden movements of the spine. But it should be remembered that any part of the spine can be affected; there have been instances where the neck suffers a slipped disc.

The ff. are what most medical experts cited as factors of slipped disc causes:

Poor Posture – Excessive strain on certain areas of the back; this is one of the common culprits of the slipped disc condition
Heavy manual labor – Tasks that require lifting may cause the spine to be vulnerable to this kind of pain, plus the abrupt movements of twisting the spine heighten the risk.
Smoking – Aside from the intense coughing that provokes bending in front, the process also adds to the dehydration of the discs and makes these prone to cracks and fissures. It should be noted that the discs are also dependent on water for them to move efficiently.
Obesity – Most of the time, being overweight can cause a strain on the back due to weakness of the muscles. The muscular imbalance puts more stress on the discs, especially on the abdominal part. Hyperextension causes the discs to cram, leading to disc injury.
Aging – The young ones have a steady supply of lubrication to the discs. When a person ages, the lubrication becomes scarce, thus becoming dependent on water for the fluidity of the spinal movement. Dehydrated discs, as mentioned earlier, become vulnerable to cracks, breakage and wedging. This is why most sufferers are aged 30 and above.

Also, the medical experts have pointed that statistical data indicate men are likely to suffer a slipped disc twice as much than women primarily due to the usual nature of jobs and smoking.