Herniated &
Bulging Disc
Treatment in
Miami Lakes

Each disc sits between two vertebrae. It has a tougher outer ring and a softer center. A bulging disc extends outward past the edge of the vertebra, usually across a wide part of the disc, while the outer ring still holds the center in. A herniated disc is more focal: the outer ring has a tear or weak spot, and inner disc material pushes through it. People sometimes say “ruptured disc.” “Slipped disc” is a common phrase, but the disc does not slip out of place.

Either finding can irritate a nearby nerve, and either can show up on an image in someone who has no pain. The label on a report does not, by itself, say how much it bothers you or what care fits.

Symptoms depend on which disc is involved and whether a nerve is irritated. People report:

• Aching in the low back or neck that stays local
• Pain that travels into a buttock, leg, or foot, or into a shoulder, arm, or hand
• Tingling or numbness in that same area
• Weakness in a muscle the nerve supplies, such as a foot that drags or a grip that fades
• Pain that changes with sitting, bending, lifting, or coughing

Pain in a leg or arm does not prove a disc is the cause. Sciatica and a pinched nerve can feel similar and have other sources.

At the Miami Lakes office, the visit starts with your history and a physical exam: where symptoms travel, what changes them, and checks of strength, reflexes, and sensation. That exam is what tells us whether a disc is a likely part of the picture.

Digital X-rays show bone alignment and the height of the disc spaces. They do not show the disc material or the nerve. We use them when the pictures would change the plan, not on every visit. If the exam suggests a closer look at the disc or nerve itself, we talk through outside imaging, such as an MRI, rather than guessing from an X-ray.

After the exam, two different tables are sometimes discussed. Non-surgical spinal decompression uses a motorized table to unload a specific disc level. Intersegmental traction is a roller table that mobilizes joints along the spine. They are not the same treatment, and neither is surgery.

Either may be considered when a disc or joint-motion problem fits the exam and there is no reason to avoid the table. They are not used when urgent medical care is needed, and they are not a match for every disc problem. The visit is where that decision is made.