Surviving John

Physical therapy is one of the most typical bulging disc treatments prescribed, and a lot of people wonder how beneficial it is and if it’s worth the time and effort you have to put into it.

The short answer is yes, it is worth it and it is helpful, but it is only a piece of the puzzle when trying to heal a protruding disc.

Statistically speaking, therapy is beneficial about 50% of the time with this health problem, but that is because most people are not told that they need to continue with their exercises even after they are released from PT.

Most physicians will prescribe one or two months of therapy to an individual who suffers with a protruding disc, but the fact of the matter is that it normally takes years for a disc condition to fully heal if it ever does. So, do you see the discrepancy?

Many will experience relief from physical therapy, but the pain almost always comes back because they don’t understand that the exercises you learn are meant to be performed for the long term if you are looking for the best results. In addition to this, physical therapy focuses on the muscles that surround the herniated disc (which certainly has benefit), but it doesn’t directly affect the main issue which is the bulging disc itself.

The purpose of physical therapy with this health problem is to strengthen the muscles that surround the injured disc, thus removing pressure on the disc so it can heal properly. One of the major purposes of the disc is to act as a ligament, holding the vertebrae of the back in proper alignment.

If the disc becomes injured, this function can not occur because the disc is too weak. So, the muscles have to take on this function in order to stabilize the spine. In addition to that, if the muscles that surround the spine are weak, the disc will have additional pressure on it and it will become more damaged over time.

So, there is certainly good reason for a person going through a program of physical therapy when they have a herniated disc. The problem is that it takes at least 3 months before a muscle will show noticeable improvement in strength, so if you stop after your recommended treatment plan with your physical therapist, you aren’t experiencing the full benefit of their care.

In addition to that, strengthening the muscles that surround the injured disc is only a part of the solution. You have to realize that this health problem is very complex, and if you don’t do anything to encourage the disc itself to heal, the problem will never heal properly even with physical therapy.

There are actually a number of additional treatments that need to be performed at the same time you’re receiving physical therapy treatments if you want the best results that last for a longer period of time. You can find out more about the most effective combination of treatments by clicking the following link (treatment for a bulging disc).

If you’ve found this article educational, and you would like to get the answers to the 20 most frequently asked questions people have about bulging disc treatments, you can click the following link (treatment for a bulging disc).