A bulging disc in the fourth or fifth vertebra of the lumbar spine may produce the following symptoms: 1. It is possible for the patient to have only localized pain in the lumbar region without any other symptoms. Some patients even have only imaging manifestations without any clinical symptoms. This is because disc bulge is the mildest type of disc herniation, and if it does not cause compression of the surrounding important nerves, it will often show no clinical symptoms or very mild clinical symptoms. 2. 4. Patients may experience shortening of the lower limbs, which is not really shortening of the lower limbs, but a protective posture adopted by the patient to relieve pain, causing abnormalities in the patient’s gait.