The spine consists of 33 small bones stacked on top of each other. Together, this series of bones protect your spinal cord, a vital part of your central nervous system. They also are the rooting force in muscle attachments that help you do everything from wiggle your toes to reach the top shelf.

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While the bones in your spine carefully move in conjunction with one another, they need a thick, rubbery cushion to act as a shock absorber. These are called intervertebral discs.

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Made of thick, rubbery tissue called annulus fibrosus and filled with a gelatinous fluid called mucoprotein gel, intervertebral discs prevent the vertebrae from knocking into each other when you bend, twist, lift, or move. They also protect the nerves that emanate from the spinal cord to different parts of your body.

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Symptoms of Herniated Discs

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While there are no nerves in intervertebral discs, their proximity to major nerves in the spine means that every time they move, slide, break, or swell they affect those nerves. A disc that has become compressed will compromise the nerves it is meant to protect. A disc that is ruptured isn't painful itself but will cause tremendous pain in the area of the back where the rupture happens.

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Remember, pain is meant to be a protective signal for your body. If you are in pain, that means you need to address the root cause, not ignore it and hope it will go away.

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Burning, Numbness, and Tingling

It seems strange that something happening in your back will cause burning, numbness and tingling in your hands, arms, legs, or feet. But if you'll recall, nerves start in your back and travel to other parts of your body. For example, your sciatic nerve begins in your lower back, runs down your hip and leg and ends in your little toe. If the sciatic nerve is compressed by a disc that isn't functioning the way it should, you might experience numbness and tingling everywhere from your lower back to your little toe.

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Numbness and tingling are a signal that the nerve has been compromised somewhere along the pathway.

 

While it feels strange, numbness and tingling are often precursors to greater pain or even muscle weakness.

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Muscle Weakness

If you exercise a muscle, it becomes stronger. However, if the muscle does not receive adequate electrical impulses from the nerve that innervates it, you experience muscle weakness. Often, disc issues in the neck are manifested in muscle weakness in the hands and disc issues in the lower back show up as weakness in the legs or feet. Again, as the disc degenerates, bulges, ruptures, or slides, it affects the ability of the surrounding nerves to communicate with both the muscles and your brain. That translates into muscle weakness in areas that are far away from the affected disc.

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Want to learn about other areas of chiropractic care? Head over to our page about Hip pain.