5 Things You Should Avoid If You Have Bulging Disks
If you experience the discomfort of bulging disks, you’ll want to avoid aggravating it by doing certain activities. In fact, as we age, this condition becomes more prevalent and can hamper your daily endeavors as well.
Every year, more and more folks experience back problems, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your life as well. As a matter of fact, experts estimate 80% of the population experience back pain at one point in their lives.
Your Bulging Disk And What You Should Know
Some years ago, my husband’s MRI revealed several bulging disks in both his lower and upper spine. After this discovery, he knew to avoid doing certain things and well as a treatment plan to follow.
Thankfully, no surgery plans were in his future, and with proper care and treatment, his pain level decreased. Most times, bulging disks respond excellently to a combination of treatments and avoiding certain aggravators.
A bulging disc is a relatively common injury. Nonetheless, it can cause aggravation and various degrees of pain. The discomfort comes from sustained damage to your spine’s intervertebral disc. It can take place in your cervical spine (neck), thoracic spine (upper and mid-back), and the lumbar spine (lower back).
If you have bulging discs, you must avoid particular things and activities to avoid aggravating the problem. Below, you’ll discover the top five things to avoid when you have this type of injury.
1 – Choosing The Wrong Mattress
One of the first things we did for my husbands bulging disks was to check into replacing our old mattress. We knew it was time to purchase one that gave him the proper support he needed for his back pain.
More so, using the wrong mattress might lead to other health complications, including bulging discs. Replacing our old mattress improved my husband’s pain level significantly, and he slept better as well.
If possible, take your chosen mattress for a test run. Visit a local furniture shop or home improvement store and ask the salesperson if you can test it out. Ensure that you don’t encounter any discomfort as you lay on it. The mattress should also provide adequate comfort and support for your spine. Doing so will allow you to sleep without waking up with back or neck pain.
You can also check the following link for more information about mattresses for bulging discs: 12 Best Mattresses for Bulging Discs in 2020. Researching the right mattress for your sleep preferences is of the utmost importance.
Moreover, consider your sleeping position while shopping for the ideal mattress if you have bulging discs. With this injury, it might be challenging to sleep on your back. Hence, choose a mattress on which you can comfortably snooze while you’re on your chest or side.
2 – Always Avoid Slouching
Bad posture can lead to unwanted tension and pain in various areas of the spine. These include the neck, upper back, and lower back. Personally, I struggle daily to improve my posture, especially when working from home.
Also, slouching can open doors to other health issues, such as:
- Poor blood circulation
- Impaired lung function
- Constricted nerves
- Headache
- Jaw pain
More importantly, try and pay attention to your posture every time you notice your slouch. Also, be sure and exercise proper posture while sitting, standing, walking, and other activities.
Remember to keep your ears aligned with your shoulders. Also, uncross your legs while you’re sitting as this position tends to make the body lean forward, making you slouch.
Furthermore, maintain consciousness to pull your shoulders blades back. Do these exercises every day, and you should see improvements in your posture, allowing you to manage bulging discs correctly.
3 – Keeping Your House Clean And Tidy With Bulging Disks
Whether you live alone or not, we all need to clean our homes if you can hire a cleaning service to do the work fantastic! If not, you’ll need to find a comfortable and safe way to clean with your bulging disks.
As you know, housework can aggravate your bulging disks, especially if you don’t follow your doctor’s guidelines. If possible, there are some cleaning tasks you should avoid and hire someone to help.
Obviously, chores like mopping, vacuuming, or sweeping can aggravate your condition. When vacuuming, use a stick cordless vacuum or robot vacuum to avoid plugging and unplugging the cord constantly. And ensure your mop and broom feature extra-long handles. This way, you can stand as upright as possible at all times.
When it times to do the laundry, try and avoid constant bending to pick up dirty clothes off the floor. Instead, purchase a grabber reacher pick up tool to do it for you quickly. After all, all the bending and twisting will aggravate your bulging disks.
Again, if possible, use a good laundry service to launder your clothes. It’s best to use a laundry service for your dirty clothes. If you work out a deal with them, you can negotiate a monthly discount for repeated services.
4 – Doing Specific Exercises
Regular exercise is an essential component of healthy living, along with following a balanced diet. But, having bulging discs can make some activities more challenging than usual.
Also, forcing yourself to do these workout routines can cause bulging discs to progress. Failure to stop doing these exercises can make the injury evolve into more severe complications, like herniated discs.
Avoid any exercise that requires you to do the following:
- Excessive sitting
- Lifting heavyweights
- Bending forward
- Jogging
- Martial Arts
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Leg Presses
- Biking or Cycling
In short, avoid workout routines that need you to put heavy pressure on your spine. In doing so, you can regretfully cause further damage and experience more discomfort.
Instead, you can do exercises that involve gentle tension to the neck, hamstring, and lower back. Don’t forget to immediately stop if you start feeling pain or discomfort in your spinal area while doing the recommended exercises for bulging discs.
5 – Eating Inflammatory Foods
Aside from regular (and correct) exercise, eating a proper diet is crucial for managing bulging discs. It would be best if you fill your plate with nutritious options to reduce the pain felt from the injury.
Also, avoid foods that can trigger pain and inflammation, like:
- Sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Refined grains
- Dairy products
- Red meat
- Processed corn
Also, avoid food with high amounts of additives and chemicals. Artificial coloring and preservatives add longevity to food and esthetic value. They offer zero nutritional value at all.
Hence, your system might consider these elements as harmful. However, this, in turn, can trigger an inflammatory response that can lead to pain.
Furthermore, the discomfort felt from the inflammatory response may radiate from your spine to other areas of the body. In turn, you may feel pain in the hip, head, or shoulders.
In addition, you can also try adding some anti-inflammatory vitamins to your diet every day. Adding these vitamins may help increase your joints lubrication and ease joint discomfort.
Bulging Disks – In Conclusion
If you have bulging discs, avoid doing housework and eating unhealthy foods. More importantly, don’t forget to visit your doctor for professional medical advice.
Also, ensure you follow the above tips to keep your bulging disks from further damage and decrease your pain and discomfort.
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Also, be sure and read This Socket Seat Cushion For Lower Back Pain Really Works!
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The contents of this article are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition and before undertaking any diet, dietary supplement, exercise, or other health programs. Sassy Townhouse Living and authors are not responsible for any adverse effects resulting from your use of or reliance on any information or products contained in any article on this blog.
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