Spanish sports newspaper Marca has revealed that Real Madrid midfielder Gareth Bale has suffered from a hernia and has two disc protrusions in his spinal column.

Apparently, Los Blancos’ doctors diagnosed these injuries during medical tests prior to his unveiling as Real’s player. The Welshman specifically “has a slipped disc on the L5 -S1 vertebrae and a bulge on the L4 -L5”, according to Marca.

Although those injuries are giving him some trouble, he doesn’t have pain and will not have to undergo surgery for the moment. However, it is probable that he’ll need to enter the operating room in the future.

At the moment of the diagnosis, Bale said he had never noticed any pain. After hearing that, the club decided not to worry about it for the moment and go on with the transfer.

That injury has brought trouble in the past to Real Madrid medical staff, as Gonzalo Higuain also suffered it. Three seasons ago, the Argentinian went under the knife in Chicago due to a herniated disc in the lumbar (L5-S1). He first tried to avoid surgery with a special treatment but it didn’t work.

Dr. Fessler, an expert in the field, performed a non-invasive intervention at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Higuain finaly recovered perfectly from the injury.

*Follow the author on Twitter @alejandrognieto