Disc herniations abound! 76% of us have one. (1) Do 76% of us have back pain right now? Thankfully,
no! The presence of a disc herniation on imaging isn’t the chief issue. The matter is
whether that disc is causing pain either mechanically (by pressing
on a nerve) or chemically (by irritating a nerve). Cross Chiropractic Center figures
this out during the all-important
physical exam. The MRI and other imaging studies are tools that
can assist - or distract - the chiropractic back pain treatment approach if the
doctor and patient allow it. So let’s not let it!
PERCENT OF SPINAL CANAL A DISC OCCUPIES
DOESN’T MATTER
Some imaging studies or MRI images will show
very large discs in back pain sufferers who have little
or no pain while back pain sufferers who are in excruciating
pain may have a small disc herniation. It can be frustrating.
Fortunately, research maintains that size is not everything. A study documented that there was no correlation of pain
and disability with the size of a disc herniation seen on MRI. (2) Another
study of 368 patients who had a lumbar disc herniation reported
that 91.3% of them did not undergo back surgery within a year. The
surgery patients’ discs took up 31.5%
of their spinal canal while the non-operative patients’ discs occupied 31.2% of their spinal canals. That is not much of a
difference. Researchers wrote that this doesn’t predict which patients will fail nonoperative
treatment and need surgery within 2 years after undergoing
a lumbar spine MRI scan. (3) In light of these
findings, Cross Chiropractic Center uses conservative treatment of these
disc herniations.
CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE
Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your
Sandy Springs chiropractor is the Sandy Springs back pain specialist.
Disc herniations causing pain are accepted
at Cross Chiropractic Center as the spinal research indicates that, though
painful, disc herniations large and small react
well to conservative treatment. Actually,
in following up with patients who had conservative
treatment for their disc herniation, 35% to 100% of the cases revealed
a decrease in the size of the herniation. (4) Two
years after conservative care, herniated disc patients had a 16.5%
decrease in size. 57% of patients showed a reduction,
40% demonstrated no change in size, and 3% showed a bigger
herniation. (5) Particularly, conservative treatment of
the disc herniation with flexion distraction Cox® Technic produced
increases in the dimensions of the spinal canal by as much
as 28% in area, 17% in height and 7% in width. (6) Sandy Springs back pain
sufferers are grateful for such improvement in their disc
herniations as pain relief results.
CONTACT Cross Chiropractic Center
Listen to the PODCAST
with Dr. George Joachim on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson. Dr. Joachim shares
the case of a patient with a disc herniation resulting in
spinal stenosis that generated considerable
pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was improved with his
use of the
Cox®
Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Sandy Springs chiropractic appointment
today. No matter its size, your disc herniation is in good
company and in good hands at Cross Chiropractic Center.