Bulging discs

[wandrewsjr]

My 12 year old gymnast was sent for an MRI to try to find the cause for her chronic lower back pain and has been diagnosed with bulging discs. They said all discs show slight bulging, but particularly the L4 and L5 discs. Next step will be an orthopedic/sports med referal, but am wondering if anyone has experience with this and what their treatment was like?

 

[MdGymMom01]

I am so sorry that your dd is going through this . Back pain is horrible all the way around. I used to be a pretty compeitive long distance runner in high school and college and in my early 20's. Then I developed a herniated bulging disc--L4/L5. I eventually had to have surgery to remove the disc and now I am fine. I still stay away from any high impact activity, but lead a pretty active lifestyle. I was about 26 when I had my flare up and operation. I am glad that your dd is seeking medical attention now because back pain is very serious, especially in a child as young as your daughter. The thing about bulging discs is that rest and avoiding high impact activity is the best treatment option. But, definitely get the sports med doctor's opinion before worrying about any of that. Good luck to your dd and hopefully things will improve and her healing will be speedy.

 

[GymnasChic915]

I actually just got done going to the doctor for that problem about 2 weeks ago. I was fortunate/unfortunate enough to not have any back pain. I was told to not do anything that caused my toes or legs to go numb and that it was fine. The only way we found out about it was through an ankle injury but once my ankle was fine I didn't have as much numbing in my foot. Some ice and rest along with not a lot of arching of the back should help it feel a little better. Good luck to your daughter and hope she gets only good news.

 

[jasminekayla]

I currently am schedule for anterior cervical decompression with fusion on June 29th. Even though mine is my neck I believe alot of it is because of playing volleyball and basketball in high school and college. I have had problems before but it was always brushed off as the stiff neck. Personally I would go to a neurosurgeon inside of ortho. I found more results and relief going that route.

 

[cher062]

Actually I have a bulging disc. I paint murals for friends, family etc on their walls and when I do it irritates the disc and it basicly swells up and becomes "bulging" Mine are in my neck and when they act up my left hand goes numb and I get pain in my left elbow. The first time it happened I thought "Am I haveing a heart attack" nope after an MRI they said I have 2 bulging discs in my neck and when they buldge they hit the nerve going down to my left hand. They did some massage thearapy which helped reduce the swelling and prescribed an anti inflamatory and needed to stop the painting for a few days at least. After the "rest" it went back to normal and the feeling came back and the pain subsided. If I do alot of activity with my left arm and hand it can actually cause the issue to re-occur. I was told by the specialist that for now no surgery would be necessary but if it becomes chronic and the pain gets bad they could do surgery to remove the disk and add in an artificial one. I would have to be on deaths door with pain before I would let them operate on my spine.

For now stopping the activity for a few days and Aleive helps. It is a chronic condition but it can be managed.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

rest, a little rehab and then back to it. everyone has bulging discs. you're born with them. some get bothered by them and some never do.

 

[Kiwi]

It might be useful if you can identify any activities that aggravate it and then limit or modify those activities. I have a problem with L5-S1 (the lowest one, below L4-L5) which is aggravated by forward-bending stretches such as pike. If I do too much forward bending, my back will be sore the next day and it also causes problems with my right foot. I now try to avoid or limit forward-bending stretches and modify some of my stretching, for example I usually stretch the hamstrings by lying on my back and raising my leg, rather than sitting down and leaning forward over the leg. I don't have problems with arching my back, but everyone is different, for some people it can be arching that causes problems. One time I really hurt my back when I had been practising a lot of round-offs onto a relatively firm mat, so it might also help if you can use soft landing mats when practising high-impact activities repetitively.

 

[teena82]

I have 2 bulging discs in the L4-S1 reg, 1 with degenerative disc disease. I do gymnastics 2-4 times a week. Sometimes it irritates it. Sometimes it doesn't. Going to PT and doing exercises to strengthen the lower back muscles help tremendously.

 

[Kiwi]

Going to PT and doing exercises to strengthen the lower back muscles help tremendously.

I forgot to mention the exercises! As well as strong back muscles, it is very important to have strong abdominal muscles, particularly the transverse abdominals.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

and the iliopsoas...major, minor and iliacus. ^^^

 

[wandrewsjr]

So..slightly unrelated follow up, but curious how would you gage whether someone has strong back and abdominal muscles?

 

[Kiwi]

and the iliopsoas...major, minor and iliacus. ^^^

Are you able to post links to or describe good exercises for these? Interesting, as I've found that sometimes when my back is playing up, a simple deep hip flexor stretch seems to help it...