WHAAT? MY DISK CAN'T ACTUALLY SLIP?!

#OMGOctober… “OMG! My disk can’t actually slip?! WHAT?!”… Yup. Believe it.  Those suckers are so tightly secured to the vertebrae with strong, ligamentous fibers that they will not “slip”.

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The term slipped disk understandably can put a terrifying image in anyone’s mind, but trust in the fact that the jelly donut image we have all seen isn’t actually going anywhere! It is in fact only the jelly part, known as the nucleus pulposus, that sometimes oozes out through a thinning area of the the donut, known as the annulus fibrosis. The donut itself, the intervertebral disk, is not slipping.

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What is even more OMG is that it is not the jelly squishing out of the donut that actually causes pain.  In fact lots of people have this right now and have zero symptoms! Only if that jelly pushes on or irritates a nearby nerve root or other structure will you actually have symptoms.

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It is always more than OK to ask your health care provider more questions about some of these scary sounding terms you might read on a report.

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Don’t forget that our job is first to listen and second to teach.  Do not be afraid to ask! And if you don’t feel comfortable asking yours always feel free to ask me! DM before you google!

-Doc AAW