Out of all the questions people ask me about healing a bulging disc or a herniated disc, the one question that is probably asked most often would be, “What can I do for faster pain relief?”

And, although you may think that the answer would be some sort of prescription, or a pain-relieving lotion that you can buy at a drug store, it’s actually something much simpler than that and we all have access to it right in our own homes.

So, what is it? Ice.

That’s right – I know this may seem simple, but the truth of the matter is that there really isn’t anything more effective or faster-working than ice when it comes to bulging disc treatment.

Now I realize that this may seem contradictory, because many physicians will actually tell you to use heat with this health problem, and that’s truly one of the worst things you can do.

The reason for this is because your body is going through an inflammatory process when you are in pain. The brain can tell that something is wrong, so it will rush blood to the area in order to provide fresh oxygen and nutrients for faster healing.

Although that sounds wonderful on the surface, because there is a rush of blood to the area, it will swell up and become very hot because blood is hot. And when you’re dealing with an issue related to the back, such as a disc condition, you have to realize that there really isn’t a lot of room for swelling to occur before it begins to apply extra pressure to the nerves of the spine and cause you more pain.

So, let’s think about this logically for a second. If the area is already hot, do you really want to put something hot on top of it? Definitely not! Adding heat to an already inflammed area of the body will just bring more blood to the area, result in more swelling, and thus more pain.

Because of this, ice is a much better option as a bulging disc therapy and, if done as I recommend, will lead to quite a bit of pain relief within just a few days of using it. Ice reduces the inflammatory process, reduces swelling, and alleviates pressure from the sensitive nerves that are causing your pain.

So, how exactly would you use ice for the fastest results? First, you want to use real ice rather than a substitute such as a gel pack or frozen vegetables. Real ice maintains the same temperature throughout the treatment, whereas other substitutes will not. This is very important if you want the fastest results possible.

Next, you want to place the ice over the affected disc, leave it there for 15 minutes or until you feel numbness in the area (whichever happens first), remove it for 1 hour and repeat the treatment again.

Continue repeating the ice treatment every hour, as many times as you can during the day. If you are able to treat the area 5 – 8 times a day, you should experience considerable relief of your symptoms within 3 days.

If the ice aggravates your condition, then you probably have some degeneration occurring within the injured disc as well. In this case, discontinue the ice treatments and try dry heat (using a heating pad, such as the ones you can purchase at a local drug store). Follow the same rules – 15 minutes on, 1 hour off and see if that makes a difference.

If it does help, continue with heat and realize that more of your pain is coming from the degeneration rather than the disc bulge or herniation.

If you would like to learn the answers to the top 20 questions that people have about healing a bulging disc or a herniated disc, you can click the following link (bulging disc therapy).