One of the more serious problems affecting the low back involves injury to the intervertebral discs, the dense ligamentous material found between the bones in your spine. This could take several forms, including disc tear, disc bulge, disc herniation, or disc degeneration. The different terms can be confusing, because some doctors use them interchangeably. However, each term has a different meaning, and the outlook for each condition can vary significantly.

To get a handle on your problem we need to name it correctly. Your doctors at CPTG are highly trained at making the right diagnosis of your disc problem and determining if it will respond to our treatment. In order to make a proper diagnosis, a thorough history and examination must be performed. The clinical examination is the most important step, because this allows us the grade the extent of any nerve irritation from a disc problem. Sometimes we will need to obtain an x-ray, MRI, CT scan, or nerve conduction test to completely understand the problem.

At Cole Pain Therapy Group, we partner with each patient, using physical examination findings and diagnostic tests to make informed decisions about how best to meet each patients goals.