Bulging or Prolapse of the Disc:

A bulging spinal disc occurs when the disc's soft, jelly-like center (nucleus) is squeezed into cracks in the disc's outer covering, weakening and stretching that covering. As a disc bulges out from between the neighboring bones (vertebrae), it can press on nerves causing severe pain that can travel to the legs called sciatica or arms and can cause numbness, weakness, or pain.