What Is The Best Way To Treat Bulging Discs and Spinal Stress?

Your bulging disk could not have come at a worse time. You were finally getting the hang of pickleball, even becoming addicted to it. Not only that, your first grandchild was recently born and now holding the precious package sends a jolt through your fingers, neck and shoulders. And when you try to power through a pickleball game, later at night, the painful sensations migrate to your lower body. 

Whether your pain is in the cervical or lumbar area — or both — having a bulging disc not only destroys your quality of life in the here and now, it can also cause psychological stress well into the future. That’s because having a bulging disc makes you wonder if you’ll ever be able to enjoy your favorite activities years from now. In addition, if left untreated, bulging discs can progress into more painful herniated discs. 

Unfortunately, most treatments for bulging discs leave people feeling disappointed, providing temporary, impractical, costly, or ineffective results. These common treatments offer an illusory glimmer of hope, but any positive effects are short-lived. Furthermore, these treatments fail to resolve the root cause of bulging discs: inter-vertebral dehydration and subsequent cartilage stiffening. 

What Causes Bulging Discs?

In other words, if the discs in between your vertebrae dry out, which typically happens with age, the cartilage surrounding the discs become like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, in desperate need of an oil can. With a bulging disc, the jelly-like substance inside the disc pushes against the outer layer of the disc. This can sometimes press on nerves and cause pain. 

Thankfully, there is one research-backed solution that offers effective and gentle relief from bulging discs and promotes better spinal health. We’ll explore this affordable solution that takes just 5-15 minutes of use at home. But first, let’s review what most people do about their bulging discs. 

These Common Bulging Disc Treatments Fail To Provide Meaningful Relief

One of the most common prescriptions for bulging disc recovery? It’s not a pill or a procedure. It’s rest. Sure, sometimes rest is best. But bulging discs do not get rehydrated from rest alone. And it may take several weeks of rest for inflammation caused by a bulging disk to subside. That’s not a promising treatment plan for returning to the pickleball court sooner than later. 

• Pain Medications: Over-the-counter pain relievers (e.g., ibuprofen, naproxen) can help manage pain and reduce inflammation. But these OTCs may cause liver damage if overused.
  
  
• Epidural Steroid Injections: Temporarily effective at best, the injections may actually worsen the pain for a few days following the procedure. Also, after the effects have worn off, the inflammation can quickly return.
  
  
• Acupuncture: May require several sessions. Although it may temporarily relieve pain and inflammation, no research shows acupuncture can effectively rehydrate discs.
  
  
• Massage: Improves circulation but, like acupuncture, requires repeated, costly sessions.
  
  

• Surgery: Whether removing a part of the vertebra or disc or fusing the vertebrae, surgery should always be a last resort option. 

Expanding Ellipsoidal Decompression (EED®) Technology (Posture Pump®) For Effective Bulging Disc Pain Management

Could air be the simple solution to pain caused by bulging discs? 

With a patented technology called Expanding Ellipsoidal Decompression (or EED®), high-level vertebral joint separation is achieved by the expansion of elliptical air cells into the concave curves of the neck and back. This EED® technology, which has helped millions since 1994 is the backbone (no pun intended) of Posture Pump® back and neck pain devices. 

While using a Posture Pump® product, bulging disc material is drawn toward the nucleus pulposus — the gel-like inner core of the disk — and away from the spinal cord. This action aligns the vertebral joints while increasing disc height.  

The benefit of EED® technology in Posture Pumps® is that spinal decompression and alignment is achieved gently. While lying on the floor, Posture Pump® users feel a lifting and expanding effect. This effect promotes separation between the vertebrae, allowing for increased hydration and nutrient flow to the discs. 

Does Research Support Posture Pump® For Bulging Discs? 

1. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D. is a world-renowned neurosurgeon and the inventor of the spinal cord stimulation technology, the Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS Unit). Dr. Shealy has conducted two studies on Expanding Ellipsoidal Decompression technology. 

In one of the studies, 36 with cervical pain were treated either with EED® technology via Posture Pump® or with linear traction. The study found that EED® decreased the magnitude and instance of anterior subarachnoid protrusion (ASP) in 31 people (86% success rate). ASP is a fancy way of saying “bulging discs towards the front of the disk where there’s fluid-filled space around the spinal cord.” Compared to EED®, linear traction mitigated the bulging discs in 71% of the subjects. 

Moreover, EED® expanded the disc height on average by over twice as much as linear traction. Unlike Posture Pump®, linear traction is not something that can be done on your own, in the convenience of your own home (unless you’re married to a chiropractor). 

What’s more, according to Dr. Shealy’s research, linear traction frequently compressed the anterior and center part of the vertebral discs. In comparison, the EED® technology from Posture Pump® expanded the entire disc “in a balanced ratio that seems to mirror the natural wedged shape found in normal cervical discs.” 

This led Dr. Shealy to conclude that Posture Pump® products are effective for disc re-hydration and subsequent disc decompression. And according to his report, using MRI scans, EED® technology “reduces annular (outer disc) bulging with subsequent greater patency (free of blockages) in the subarachnoid space leading to a rapid reduction in symptoms.” 

Millions Of Satisfied Posture Pump® Customers

Real-world accounts speak volumes about the effectiveness of Posture Pump® devices. These devices have become a must-have for people who have undergone spinal stress, such as bulging discs. The vast majority of Posture Pump® users report a notable decrease in symptoms like pain, numbness, and tingling.

Posture Pump® devices also help improve posture and are completely non-invasive, making them a highly beneficial component of rehabilitation programs.