A herniated disc is not always painful. A large part of the population lives with bulging or herniated discs between their vertebrae without being affected or sometimes without even knowing it! When symptoms do occur, they vary from person to person. You may feel pain or numbness in your neck, upper back, in one arm, or both. This pain can vary throughout the day. It may increase when sitting, when your head is tilted forwards or backwards, during movements that use your neck muscles or when you cough or sneeze.
Very often, a herniated cervical disc is not the result of a particular event, but rather of an accumulation of awkward neck postures (such as keeping your head forward or leaning forward, hunching your upper back, etc.). An accident, an awkward move or a fall becomes less the cause and more the element that triggers the pain the first time.
A herniated disc occurs when the disc partially “pops out” of its location between each vertebra of the spine (which serves to absorb shocks and vibrations). Symptoms most often occur when it irritates or compresses surrounding nerve roots.