Gymnastics can be a rewarding sport, but it's also very demanding. There's a high potential for injury in gymnastics, including back injuries like bulging disks. Here are three things gymnasts need to know about bulging disks.

How do bulging disks occur?

As a gymnast, your back can be subjected to a lot of trauma. Even simple skills like back walkovers force your back to bend at an angle that non-gymnasts would consider unnatural, and practicing these moves day after day puts repetitive strain on your back. When you're practicing new skills on the uneven bars or balance beam, you may fall frequently, and each of these falls could injure your back.

What are the signs of bulging disks?

If you've developed a bulging disk, you may feel intense pain. The location of this pain can vary depending on the location of the injured disk. If the bulging disk is in your lower back, you could feel pain in your legs or even your feet, but if it's in your neck, your shoulders and arms could hurt. Moving your spine can send pain shooting into your arms or legs, so training can become very painful.

Aside from the pain, the affected areas of your body can become tingly or weak. You may find yourself failing to complete long-mastered skills due to these symptoms.

Can bulging disks be treated?

Bulging disks can be treated by a sports medicine doctor. A very short period of bed rest (only two or three days) can be used to deal with the pain, though if you stay in bed for too long, you could become stiff or weak and not perform as well in the gym. After your period of bed rest is over, a physiotherapist can teach you exercises to stabilize your spine and retrain your muscles.

Once you're feeling better, your physiotherapist will use gymnastics-specific exercises to treat your injured back, and once you're better, you'll need to follow a maintenance program to keep the problem from coming back.

Discectomy, a surgical procedure that involves removing part of the herniated disk, may also be necessary. If you return to the gym before you're completely recovered, you could experience less favorable outcomes, so it's important to take time to heal, even if it means missing the season.

If you're suffering from pain, tingling, or weakness in the gym, you may be suffering from a bulging disk and should see a sports medicine doctor for help with your rehabilitation right away.