What Are Discs And What Do They Do?
Between your spinal bones (vertebrae) are flexible, gel-like pads called intervertebral discs ("discs") that give your spine its curves and flexibility (a curved, flexible spine is stronger than a straight, rigid one). Discs affect your height too. You are about 1/4" - 1/2" taller when you wake up than when you go to sleep. Why is that? Because gravity makes your discs thin a little when you walk and sit during the day and expand a little while you lie in bed (astronauts gain about 1" in height due to weightlessness). Research is revealing that spinal discs are involved in lower back pain.Disc Protrusion and Prolapse
As you age, your discs may lose fluid and small cracks or lesions may form in the outer walls. This damage may also be caused or accelerated by the vertebral subluxation complex, a spinal distortion chiropractors correct. Your disc may bulge, irritate nerves and cause a lot of pain and discomfort. In severe cases disc damage may affect sitting, standing, walking or lifting and cause pain when urinating, defecating, sneezing adn coughing. Numbness of the leg or foot or a loss of muscular control may also occur.