It happens because the space for the lowest nerves in the spine has been reduced. This is a very rare but serious condition. This can lead to the same sensations often referred to as sciatica. This bulge in the wrong place can cause extra pressure or inflammation around the nerve as it exits the spine, possibly leading to pain, tingling, numbness or weakness in the leg.Īge related changes in the back joints can sometimes have the same effect, reducing the amount of space the nerve has for freedom, and causing some inflammation or pressure. Sometimes stresses and strains can cause the soft centre to bulge into the tough layer. The softer centre is protected by a tough and fibrous outer shell. Discs provide cushioning between your back bones (vertebra). This is an old-fashioned term and actually nothing has slipped out of place, so we now call it a herniated disc. In some cases, sciatica can be caused by a ‘slipped disc’. The likeliest cause of this is the nerve becoming irritated or inflamed in one of the back joints just at the point it exits the spine to travel down the leg, and reporting this back to the brain as leg pain. This is far less common than back pain, but is still a very common and painful problem. When we say ‘sciatica’, we mean pain that radiates from the low back, and down the back of one leg along the path of the sciatic nerve.

Herniated disk xray