Make sure to get a thorough diagnosis if you have any of the following symptoms:

• Tingling or pain in the fingers, arms, hands, shoulders or neck.
• Pain in the lower spine, buttocks, feet and thighs. (Most common symptom)
• Difficulty lifting or holding things, or any impairment while walking.

There may be many reasons you have a bulging disc ranging from not exercising enough to heavy lifting and exercising the wrong way but the most common cause of bulging discs is simply aging and the natural process of disc degeneration.

A Provocative discography is usually necessary to differentiate the painful disc from the discs that are not painful. Generally the pain is caused by an annular tear-not always visible on an MRI. The discography can also help to show where the problems are located when contrast is injected into the discs. A CT scan immediately after the discogram gives a much better three dimensional picture of the problem.

*Sedation is used in all cases for painless and accurate placement of the needles.