The bulging disc symptoms you’ll experience in your lower back can be terribly painful to say the least.
They can stop you in your tracks.
Walking, sitting, standing…All of your movements can be affected.
Bulging discs in the lower back are the most common because the discs have to take stress and weight from the rest of your body.
Which Nerve Is Your Bulging Disc (Slipped disc) Pressing On?
The symptoms you experience will vary depending on which nerve root is compressed by the bulging disc (also known as slipped disc or herniated disc.)
There are 5 bones (vertebra) in your lower back or lumbar spine. These are known as L1 – L5 (L being short for Lumbar)
On top of getting lower back pain symptoms, the most common places to get symptoms from a lumbar disc are:
L3/L4
This refers to the disc that is situated between Lumbar bones 3 and 4. Learn more about L3L4 Symptoms.
Pain: You may feel sharp shooting pain on the inside of the lower leg usually from below the knee to the top of the big toe.
Weakness: You will experience weakness when straightening your leg from a bent position
Loss of Sensation: You may experience altered or loss of sensation in the area just above your knee
L4/L5
This refers to the disc that is situated between Lumbar bone 4 and 5.
It’s the 2nd most common place to get a disc in the lower back.
Pain: You may experience pain on the outside of the leg start near your hip and running down the side of your leg to your 3 middle toes.
Weakness: Weakness is usually felt if you try to raise your big toe on the side of pain
Loss of Sensation: You may experience numbness or a loss of sensation in between the webbing of your big toe and second toe.
L5/S1
Refers to the disc that is situated between Lumbar bone 5 and the sacrum.
This is the most common disc bulge in the entire body because it’s the very bottom bone in the spine.
Pain: This is associated with pain running down the back of your leg from your buttock to the outside of your ankle.
Weakness: You may feel weakness when trying to turn your foot in
Loss of Sensation: You may experience loss of sensation at the bottom of your foot near your heel
Bulging Disc Symptoms In Your Lower Back Can Be Similar To Other Conditions
Bulging discs symptoms in the lower back can cause similar symptoms to other conditions.
This is because the symptoms come about due to compression of the nerve.
Another common condition which occurs as you age is canal stenosis. It produces similar symptoms where the nerve root is compressed, because of changes to the bone rather than a bulging disc and is another lower back pain cause.
In rarer cases a tumor in the spine can also push against a nerve root and mimic the same symptoms of pain and weakness as a bulging disc.
For this reason it is extremely important to get an accurate diagnosis from a health professional so that the cause of your problem is diagnosed correctly, since bulging disc treatment may reduce your symptoms.
If you are suffering from bulging disc symptoms in your lower back, give us a call or book online today to see if our Sydney Chiropractors can help you.
Also read: Can sciatica cause groin pain?
