A slipped disc, medically known as a herniated disc, occurs when excessive pressure on the disc causes it to move from its original alignment. The discs in the spine provide cushioning to the stacks of bones or vertebrae in the spine. In general, our spine suffers general wear and tear over the years, which eventually causes damage to soft muscle tissues, leading to excessive pressure on the bones and discs. In severe cases, surgery may be required to treat a slipped disc. However, you can also get relief from a slipped disc with appropriate prescription medication and spine rehabilitation therapy.

You can have a slipped disc in any part of the spine, whether at the neck or in the lower back, although the lower back is most commonly affected by a slipped disc. Since your spinal column is an intricate network of blood vessels and nerves, a slipped disc can put extra pressure on the nerves & muscles around it. You can experience a slipped disc as a natural spine degeneration due to ageing. However, there are many other factors that can lead to a slipped disc. Let's take a look at such factors that can cause a slipped disc:

• Poor sitting or standing posture
• Obesity: excessive weight exerting pressure on the spine
• Improperly lifting heavy objects
• Repetitive movements or activities that stress the spine
• Genetic factors that influence disc formation
• Injury or trauma to the spinal structures
• Weak core muscles that fail to support the spine properly
• Smoking causes depletion in disc nutrition

Another factor that may come into play is gender. Studies have shown that men are more likely to experience slipped disc incidents than women. Knowing these risk factors and causes of a slipped disc can help you take care of yourself and prevent it as much as possible. However, if you do experience a slipped disc, are you aware of the symptoms you should watch out for? Let's explore the various symptoms that you should look out for:

• Pain that lasts for hours to several weeks at a stretch
• Frequently experiencing painful muscle spasms.
• Sudden and shooting pain in the upper back that radiates to the arms or pain in the lower back radiates down to the pelvis and/or legs.
• You are unable to sit or stand for longer periods of time, but you can notice that the pain reduces when you change body position.

You may experience one or more such symptoms, but you should be very cautious of experiencing numbness or paralysis in the pelvis or legs, weakness in hands and feet, and loss of balance or bladder control. If you experience any of these symptoms, you should contact a medical provider as early as possible. Fortunately, a slipped disc condition can be cured with four weeks of QI spine therapy at QI Spine Clinic.

At QI Spine Clinic, our spine doctors will curate a customised spine rehabilitation therapy plan for you based on careful evaluation of your symptoms and assess your physical health. Our spine doctors are focused on looking for the root cause of the problem and checking your nerve function, muscle strength, and severity of pain through a physical examination. Imaging scans, such as X-rays, CT, and MRI scans, can pinpoint the source of your spine problem and devise an appropriate treatment plan.

Your tailored slipped disc treatment plan may include a combination of medication and pain management, spine rehabilitation, and surgery in rare cases. QI Spine Clinic offers a patented Cell Repair Treatment that employs frequency-specific microcurrents to alleviate pain and inflammation in the affected region. Our spine specialists can stabilise the spine and help patients with disability or restricted physical movement through different physiotherapy approaches to improve function, strength, and flexibility, manage pain, and promote regeneration of the affected tissue and disc with functional training.

With our advanced medical techniques to treat a wide range of spine issues, we are dedicated to the treatment and management of slipped discs and related conditions like spondylitis treatment to help you get cured and regain the strength and function of your spine. You can address your spine problems with QI Spine Clinic and obtain the best possible outcomes with best-in-class treatment facilities provided by our spine doctors with the utmost medical expertise and compassion.