What are the signs and symptoms of a disc bulge?
- Restricted neck movement
- Pain swelling
- Numbness tingling shooting pain down the arm into the elbow or fingers
- Weakness in arm muscles
- Loss of grip strength
- Pain in between the shoulder blades
What causes neck pain?
- Stress
- Life
- Joint and muscle tightness
- Posture, pillows, beds
- Desk set up at work
- All of the above
What causes disc bulges in the neck?
Can be from contact sport, injuries, head knocks
Often it is accumulative in nature, slow and insidious pressure on the disc, and then something pushes it “over the edge”
How do you know if you have a disc bulge?
Your chosen musculoskeletal expert, physio or chiro will run a few tests to assess movement and function of the neck. Test grip strength, muscle strength, nerve function. Sometimes xrays and MRI’s are warranted done the track if the patient is unresponsive to conservative management.
What is the treatment for disc bulges?
- Control pain and swelling
- Improve neck joint function
- Relax and then strength neck muscles
- Assess environmental causes like posture, desks, pillows and stress
Neck disc bulge recovery time?
It depends on several factors. How chronic it is, expertise of practitioner, compliance of the patient to home advice, stress in patients life just to name a few.