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@delia74

Thank you so much for the great info!
Question: Do you mean that PT contributed to one of your discs stop bulging? As in "get back into place"? Was PT on that area painful?
I am opposed to having anyone touch/manipulate my spine, especially a chiropractor. About 35 years ago, a chiropractic adjustment resulted in my leaving with pain, which continued for several days. I crossed off chiropractic care altogether. And I did not have bulging discs at that time, so with the present spinal condition the thought of anyone touching those areas is not at all appealing.

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Replies to "Thank you so much for the great info! Question: Do you mean that PT contributed to..."

@delia74 I do not let chiropractors touch my neck or back. With my physical therapist, there were no spinal manipulations other that using a foam roller to mobilize the spine or a wooden body back roller which can rest vertebrae alignment at bit just by laying on it. That can hurt a little bit in the muscles, but you are just pressing the muscles next to the spine on wooden knobs and the spine vertebrae are not contacted because there is a V shaped space in the middle of the roller for it, so the muscles are pulling the spine back into alignment. My therapist also does myofascial release to release tension in muscles and fascia that is holding the body. Muscle tension can create the bulging discs by pulling on the vertebrae. I also do core strengthening, so the spine is better supported. All of that tends to keep the spine aligned as it should be and I saw the bulging disc change on a later mri that did not show a bulged disc where it had been bulging before and there was no mention of it by the radiologist report.

If you have a disc that is weakened, a spinal manipulation can rupture the disc. All I had to do to rupture my C5/C6 that had been injured by a whiplash years earlier was to turn my head when I was stretching and I heard it pop and my head suddenly turned past the prior range of motion. You don't really know if a disc is weak, and a chiropractor could have easily ruptured it with a manipulation. That was probably going to happen anyway because of the injury causing C5/C6 to bulge for years and changes with aging.

If you're interested, this is our discussion about Myofascial Release.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/

Jennifer