Herniated Disc Overview
A Spine Expert Explains Herniated Discs
In this video, Dr. Timothy Kuklo, a spine surgeon, gives a brief overview of herniated disc. In simple, easy-to-understand language, Dr. Kuklo will help you understand why some discs herniate.
To understand herniated discs, it helps to imagine your intervertebral discs—the cushions in between your vertebrae that help you move—as jelly donuts. In a jelly donut, there’s the jelly in the middle: That’s the nucleus pulposus. The tougher, more solid part of the donut holds in the jelly: That’s the annulus fibrosus in your intervertebral disc. When a disc herniates, it’s just like when you squeeze the jelly donut. The jelly can come squirting out through the donut.
When a disc herniates, the nucleus pulposus pushes out of the central part and into the annulus fibrosus, as Dr. Kuklo explains in the video.
To learn more, you can read this informative summary article on herniated discs.
