Though discs are little shock absorbers, they are not as resilient as the name would suggest. If too much pressure is placed on them, they'll protrude or herniate, which creates a lot of pain and can lead to problems such as pinched nerves, which, in turn, causes permanent numbness in the body's extremities.
The most common location of disc injury is the lower back or the lumbar region of the spine.
You don't need to be a professional athlete to injure yourself in this way. Falling and landing on your tailbone can compress a disc and cause it to herniate. This puts pressure on the leg nerves, causing a shooting pain down the legs and resulting in potentially permanent damage to the nerve itself.
Incorrectly lifting heavy objects can do the same thing. Similarly, a severe whiplash can cause a herniated disc in your middle (thoracic) and upper (cervical) back or neck, which will create a debilitating pain with each movement.
This pain has been compared to having a hot poker shoved into your neck or back. "Toughing it out" or "working through" the pain can cause unnecessary suffering and extremely unpleasant side effects.
Old age and deteriorating bones caused by continued subluxations will also weaken the discs and cause them to eventually fail. Once this occurs, there's no way to repair the damage without surgery.