"My MRI scan shows I have a disc bulge so I have stopped picking up my grandchildren". Waiting for the results of your spinal MRI scan can be quite nerve wracking. Once you get the results there is sigh of relief when you are told there is nothing life threatening. Then the doctor tells you "you have a disc bulge". Before you have chance to ask him in detail what that means he is already calling his next patient through and you are left wondering: What on earth does this mean