Damage / Pain Scenario

At the time, that fall on your buttocks when you were roller skating as a teenager, the football injury where the guy landed on you while you were falling backwards into a sitting position, or the time your back snapped forward in an auto accident, all seemed to be relatively insignificant injuries. However, they were importantly detrimental physiological and anatomical events. Some may have hurt for so little time that you hardly remember them, yet they were nevertheless capable of setting you up for a "Coup-de-Gras" later in life which (sounding familiar to many) goes something like this:

As an ageing human [your nucleus pulposus has solidified into a discus-shaped lump of cartilage], you wake up from a sound sleep in a soft bed [your Lumbar disc has been in flexion for nearly the last 8 hours] to recall that you forgot to take out the trash, and today is pick-up day. Unbeknownst to you, your desiccated nucleus pulposus has migrated to the end of the radial tear tunnel (fissure) that was created by past trauma to the spine and, as you raise your upper body off the bed to get up [you induce weight-bearing flexion that exerts nearly 500 lbs of force], you feel a slight twinge that you discount as insignificant [the disc material has just poised itself against the capsule]. You hurriedly trundle outside in your pajamas as fast as you can so as not to be seen by your neighbors. You are caused to lean slightly forward because its the most comfortable position [the disc material is exerting the fulcrum effect], and it is difficult to stand erect without slow adjustment which you don't have time for just now. Still half asleep with the majority of your muscles remaining relaxed from your slumber and, therefore, providing no protection, you bend over, lifting the can that turns out to be a little heavier than you expected. So, you jerk it up--WHAM! [The last fibrous band of the annulus fibrosus ruptures, allowing the central disc material to be squeezed towards the edges of the vertebral bodies, pushing before it the thin ligamentous capsule with all its delicate nerve endings, herniating and prolapsing the disc.] The pain takes your breath away, so you lean forward on the trash. The pain increases so rapidly that you can't bear the weight of your own body; and you find that lying in trash isn't so bad after all. You finally muster enough will power to try another attempt at erect posture. Now, the ground seems like the only site of solace. There, you can at least assume the fetal position and the grinding pain, like someone is using "the jaws of life" on the bones of your spine, is somewhat relieved just so long as you don't move [any reduction in the load bearing on the disc reduces the hydraulic pressure on the peripheral ligamentous capsule]. You feebly call out for help but no one can do anything because the slightest movement results in agony. All that you can think to do is seek out medical care and prepare for the economic hemorrhage that is soon to come.

Your doctor can't conceive of the possibility that you have herniated or prolapsed a disc because the lifting of a trash can, in his mind, isn't sufficient force; so, in the absence of neurological findings you are diagnosed as having a "back strain," given some pain pills, a few muscle relaxants, bed rest, some physical therapy, and told that it will get better. The only problem is that it doesn't; and you are then faced with the task of figuring out what is wrong because you aren't getting the answers you need and can't see yourself living with this kind of pain for the rest of your life.

One needs to understand that a herniated disc is a bio-mechanical problem; and mechanical problems have mechanical solutions. In order to solve a mechanical problem, you first have to determine physically where and what constitutes the mechanical lesion. When a disc goes "out," it does so physically and, therefore, has a dimensional reality. It actually travels to another position that causes pain. In order to determine the best method or MANEUVER to put the displaced disc material back "in" to the center where it belongs, the location of the out-of-place disc material must be identified. The level of the vertebral column where the pain originates and the position of the fragment within the disc space must be fixed in the mind so that a mechanical strategy can be designed that will be both specific and effective. Before one can move a piece of matter, one must first know where the material exists in space.

There are expensive means of determining the location of a displaced piece of disc material; and there are self-administered, free, ways to accomplish the same task. The beginning of this section will briefly discuss the options available using standard, costly, diagnostic modalities ordered by licensed practitioners and the remainder will be dedicated to teaching the reader how to accomplish a "do-it-yourself" diagnosis. Taking the time to understand the options will assist the reader in making the best, most cost-effective decision. Without this understanding, the reader might end up spending thousands of dollars and getting nothing.

Further Reading:

Damage / Pain Scenerio
Traditional Diagnostic Methods
Self Diagnosing your Disc
Documenting your disc

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