Chiropractic Reduces Disc Herniation Related Pain Often Without MRI

MRIs are fascinating. They display some great images of the body. Chiropractors appreciate spinal MRI images. Why? The spine is where chiropractors like your Sandy Springs chiropractor live day in and day out. Cross Chiropractic Center values the MRI image study for what it is: a a piece of the diagnostic puzzle. But MRIs are not always clinically necessary. Can MRI help decide whether to use non-surgical care or surgical care for back pain relief? Read on for the most recent findings.

The Usefulness of MRI

When a Sandy Springs patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms denote the need for an MRI, Cross Chiropractic Center requests one for such a Sandy Springs back pain patient. MRI may supplement your Sandy Springs chiropractor’s clinical knowledge of the condition oftentimes (but not always!).  Pre-treatment and post-MRI studies are intriguing. Did the disc herniation shrink now that the pain disappeared? Sandy Springs chiropractic patients will often ask that of Cross Chiropractic Center. And researchers will consider MRIs for their research studies on just such a query.

The Curiosity of MRI

Researchers aren’t the only ones who curiously study MRI images of low back pain sufferers to see if there is any correlation between pain and no pain and the MRI at the beginning and end of treatment for back pain. Patients wonder, too. Cross Chiropractic Center is well aware that our Sandy Springs back pain patients wonder!

Knowing that doctors and patients find MRI images a curiosity when there is back pain and leg pain, a group of researchers planned to determine the value of MRI in predicting treatment outcomes in patients who had a herniated lumbar disc with sciatica. They questioned if MRI could help decide whether to do back surgery now or stay the course with conservative care. Cross Chiropractic Center and the Sandy Springs chiropractic low back pain patients we care for would love such a simple guide! Study participants were randomly sent to surgical care or a course of prolonged conservative care. Two findings – a disc extrusion and nerve root compression on MRI in patients with less severe leg pain – indicated a satisfactory outcome with either type of care. Another interesting finding:  the size of the disc herniation at the beginning of caredid not affect the outcome. The two groups revealed significant difference in outcomes between them – surgical and conservative. (1) Cross Chiropractic Center reads similar reports more and more in the back pain research.  Recall the Atlas studies of surgical and non-surgical interventions for back pain and sciatica? There wasn’t much difference in those landmark studies either: 50% vs. 53% non-surgical vs. surgical for back pain due to spinal stenosis (2) and 69% vs. 61% surgical vs. non-surgical for sciatica (3).

Cross Chiropractic Center Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation

Cross Chiropractic Center invites you to make a Sandy Springs chiropractic appointment today. Trust Cross Chiropractic Center to provide evidence-based chiropractic care that relieves your spine pain many times without an MRI. Together, we can create a non-surgical (and even potentially non-MRI!) treatment plan to reduce your back pain.

Schedule your Sandy Springs chiropractic appointment today.