Turn, layer and cut through a 3D model of the female lower back. See how discs and nerve roots sit together, compare a disc bulge with a herniation, and learn what rehabilitation can and cannot do.
Choose a condition to frame the anatomy, switch layers on and off, cut through the model, or select any structure to name it. Start with C·04 to compare a typical disc, a broad bulge and a focal herniation at L4-L5.
Educational model · clinical review pending · not a diagnosis
Loading the 3D anatomy… 0%
▮Bones
◐Discs
〰Nerves
✦Glow and label: structures discussed in the selected module (illustrative)
Colours are educational conventions, not true tissue colours.
Educational, simplified model adapted to typical female proportions; not a diagnosis.
Click or tap a structure in the 3D view, or choose one from a layer list.
C·04
Bulging & herniated discs
Possible nerve-root irritation
Clinical review pending
A disc bulge is a broad, even spread of the disc beyond its usual edge. A herniation is a more focal displacement of disc material through the outer ring. Both are often found in people without symptoms. When material sits close to a nerve root, irritation or pressure can contribute to pain, pins and needles or numbness travelling down the leg. Many herniations shrink and settle with time and active care.
What the 3D view shows
An L4-L5 example: compare a broad bulge with a posterolateral (back and to the side) herniation on the left. In this position it reaches the L5 root as that root crosses the disc (the “traversing” root); the L4 root leaves higher up and is not touched.
What it cannot show
The shapes are illustrative. It cannot show how much a real herniation presses on a nerve, whether yours is causing your symptoms, or how quickly it will settle.
Therapy & Rehabilitation
Active rehabilitation, hands-on techniques and adjunctive modalities are different things. Highlights in the 3D view are illustrative, not measured activity.
T·01Hands-on technique
Manual therapy
Purpose. Clinician-applied mobilisation of stiff spinal segments or soft-tissue work, used to ease pain and help movement. It is a possible addition to an exercise-based programme, not a replacement for one.
Limits. Effects are usually short-term on their own. It does not realign or “put back” vertebrae or discs. Not for self-administered manipulation.
T·02Active rehabilitation
McKenzie / directional preference
Purpose. Your clinician tests repeated movements (for example bending back, or bending forward) to see whether one direction reduces your symptoms or draws leg symptoms back toward the spine (centralisation). If so, that direction shapes your exercises.
Limits. Not everyone has a directional preference, and extension is not right for everyone. It does not push a disc “back into place”.
T·03Active rehabilitation
Core stabilisation
Purpose. Exercises such as a modified bird dog or dead bug that build capacity and control in the trunk muscles, including transversus abdominis and multifidus. The highlight is an illustrative overlay, not measured muscle activity.
Limits. One option among several, not a guaranteed cure and not the only way to protect the spine. General strengthening and walking help similarly for many people.
T·04Adjunctive modality
Cupping
Purpose. Cups placed on the skin create suction that lifts the skin and the tissue just beneath it. Some people find it relaxing alongside other care.
Limits. It acts on the skin and superficial tissue only. It does not detoxify, correct discs or permanently release fascia, and circulation claims are not established.
Evidence review pending: no benefit claims are made until the evidence has been reviewed.
T·05Active rehabilitation
Therapeutic exercise
Purpose. Mobility work, progressive strengthening, walking and a planned return to the activities that matter to you. This is the core of most back-pain rehabilitation.
Limits. Which exercises and how they progress depend on you; this explorer does not prescribe sets, repetitions or a plan.
T·06Adjunctive modality
Electrotherapy (TENS & ultrasound)
Purpose. TENS passes a mild electrical current through pads on the skin to change how pain signals are felt; therapeutic ultrasound applies sound waves through a probe on the skin.
Limits. Neither heals tissue or repairs discs, and neither is an essential part of treatment.
NICE guideline NG59 recommends against offering TENS or therapeutic ultrasound for managing low back pain, with or without sciatica.
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