Few diagnoses cause as much worry as being told you have a herniated or bulging disc. The word alone makes people picture surgery, months off work and a back that will never be the same. In reality, the large majority of disc injuries improve with the right conservative care, and many people who have a disc bulge on an MRI have no pain at all. What matters is not just what the scan shows, but which structure is actually producing your symptoms, whether a nerve is involved, an