A herniated disk is an extremely painful condition. A herniated disk can cause extreme low back pain and leg pain. In this article I will explain:
- What a herniated disk is.
- The common “medical” treatments for a herniated disk.
- How I treat a herniated disks, and why I believe this treatment is the best.


Once a disk herniation happens there are three major sources of pain. The torn disk, the pinched nerve, and the bodies inflammatory response to the jelly all cause a tremendous amount of pain.
If either the bulge or the herniation presses on a nerve in the low back it causes sciatica, and if in the neck it will cause brachialgia . Sciatica is a sharp “electric” shooting pain that starts in the buttocks and can travel down the leg and into the foot. Brachialgia is like sciatica except it is felt in the arm extending into the hand. The greater the pressure on the nerve, the farther the pain will travel down that nerve.
The common medical treatment for disk conditions is to prescribe drugs for pain and inflammation and wait. The thinking is that since some back pain will go away if given enough time, why do anything at first? Just wait and see if the pain will go away. If the pain doesn’t go away then x-ray, MRI, try physical therapy, try injections and finally surgery.
It is true that back pain can go away without doing anything! However doing nothing all but guarantees that the pain will return later, and worse. As with anything, the sooner you treat the cause of the pain the better the chances that the problem can be fixed.
What if there was a safe, proven, non-surgical, drugless treatment that could:
- Stimulate the injured disk to heal.
- Aid in the absorption of the nucleus pulposus (the jelly).
- Aid in the reduction of the disk bulge or herniation.
- Take the pressure off the pinched nerve so that is did not hurt.
- Restore normal motion to the spine.
Well there is! I have been using this treatment for 20 years with phenomenal success. The technique is called Cox Flexion/Distraction. In those 20 years, nothing else has come close to doing what this treatment does. To show you exactly what this treatment looks like, here is a video of Dr. Cox himself demonstrating his technique.
Use the comment section below to ask any questions you have, and I will respond to you right away.
Please pass this information on to a loved one with back or neck pain, or to a doctor who sees patients with these problems.
This was very interesting to read! Just since I’ve been working regularly at the office a few months ago, I’ve met a few patients who have suffered from herniated disks who have been helped tremendously because of chiropractic treatment from Dr. Kilcup. I hope more people who are suffering from this can learn that chiropractic treatment can really help them! 🙂
What Can i Do to Fix my Bulging Disc Without Needing Surgery
kaustubh just click on the link at the end of the article that says, “video of Dr. Cox himself demonstrating his technique”. The video shows the treatment that I do for disc hernations.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Thank you very much for showing this technique because I was afraid I might need surgery Ive tried steroids and it only work for a short period. I hope this can work for me
Antonine I am thrilled you found this article. If you get a good doc that knows what he/she is doing it will help a lot!
Let me know how things work out!
I recent experience a herniated Dic (Neck)
I have experienced the high levels of pain and am under doctor’s care it was confirmed (MRI)that I had a herniated dic c4-c5 I live if Orange country California and would like to know if you can recommend a referral (92821)
Don Martinez
Don I do not personally know anyone in the Orange County area. I have two suggestions for you.
1. Google “Cox flexion/distraction” and see if you get any DC’s near you. If you do call them tell them about the herniation in your neck and ask if they can treat that with Cox technique. Lots of Docs treat the lunbar spine but fewer are trained and set up for the neck.
2. Call Southern California University of Health Sciences and ask if they can refer you. They are in Whittier and should know of good Doc’s who are using this.
I just finished treating a patient with the cervical disc hernation. The patient responded very well to the treatment.
Thank you for your reply I will contact the University. You mention you just treating a patient with the cervical disc hernation. Did this correct itself? or will they still require surgery.
I am seeing a Dr. Eric Lin an orthopedic Doctor out of St. Judes hospital.
My patient is 100% pain-free working with no restrictions with full range of motion. I don’t know what a MRI of his neck looks like but for fun lets say the MRI showed some bulging of a disc. Would surgery be needed if the patient is pain-free and fully functional but has something on the MRI? 🙂
The PT is trying to duplicate what Dr. Cox invented but without the right equipment they will not get the best results. If I were you I would want to receive the best treatment.
I would love to hear how it goes for you Don.
I am in physical therapy what they are doing is pulling on the neck outward with a towel with strong force and pulling can this cause more damage none of the exercises your video describes is being utilized. Also they are applying hard Presser on the neck in a down motion toward my shoulder area.
Hello Dr…
I have a work related back injury.. L-4 L-5 S-1 are all very bad. L-5 is ruptured and causing severe leg pain and I have severe nerve damage in my leg and foot drop has started. Many doctors are recommending surgery and say that I really have no other options. I am also on some very heavy narcotics… Nucynta… can you help?
Jessica I honestly can’t tell you with confidence that I can help you. Your condition may be too severe for conservative therapy. I can promise that the treatment will not hurt you. I need to examine you and look at all the records to give you a good answer. I wish I could offer more help over the web, but your situation is complicated.
hey i have l5s1 disc herniation. i was wneinrdog is there a time limit to get spinal decompression? because i read that the herniated part shrinks and the fluid that leaked gets reabsorbed by the body over a period of time.
Hi, my mom has recently had LOTS of pain from a herniated disc causing her to have sciatic nerve issues. She had to go to the ER on vacation because it was so painful. She can hardly walk now and can’t do my much. She’s been going to the chiropractor, which isn’t helping, but not making it worse. I feel so bad for her. She had an appt with her dr and he has recommended going to the pain clinic for a shot. She hasn’t been there yet, but hoping the MRI will give better answers and a shot will help. Today her chiropractor could tell that what she was doing, wasn’t helping. Does the chiropractor just not have the right technique? She was nice enough to say that she really didn’t think she was helping my mom and to wait for any more treatments (saving her money). She’s gone to this chiropractor for years, so she really likes her and trusts her. Seems hard to believe that a herniated disc can be fixed without surgery. I hope it can. It probably just takes time! I wish I could do something for my mom because she’s a very outgoing person and to see her “laid up” like this is heartbreaking. Not to mention annoying for my Mom! Any information you might have that could help relieve some of her pain would be great. Or what she could tell her chiropractor. Thanks!
Amanda you are a very good daughter. I think your mom’s chiropractor is a woman of integrity. Yes the technique in this case makes all the difference. Your mom needs to see a chiropractor that is an expert in the Cox Technique like the one in the video. If your mom’s doctor has been using the Cox technique then it might be a case that will not respond to conservative care.
Does that make sense?
I have 3 herniated cervical discs (C4-C7) and one (C6-C7) has a suspected extruded disc fragment. Dr. wants to do fusion on C6-C7 to relieve current pain, but I am hesitant as it seems that the C5-C6 will quickly fail due to current herniation, spur, and stenosis. Will your technique help me long term?
I live in NC.
Thanks for your opinion.
Cindy I wish I could answer your question. The truth is maybe yes, maybe no. I have patients that have done well for decades with problems similar to yours. Generally the worse the bone components are the less nonsurgical improvement possible.
Giving the Cox Technique a try will do no harm. If it works great, if not then you know you need surgery.
Hope that helps
I was recently had an MRI showing a bulging & herniated disk in 5&6 & 6&7, also these two disks are very thin, the doctor also did x-rays & said I have spinal stenosis & arthritis in disks 4, 5, 6, & 7. I am scheduled to have neck surgery the middle of July to replace the thinning disks with artificial disks, is this the only fix for thinning disks?
Tina are you in any pain?
do you have a list of chiropractors using this technique? in case there is one near us? Northern Calif.
Sorry Jim I don’t.