76% of us has
a disc herniation. (1) Do all 76% have back pain right now? Thankfully,
no! The presence of a disc herniation on imaging isn’t the important issue. The concern is
whether that disc is producing pain either mechanically (by pressing
on a nerve) or chemically (by irritating a nerve). Chiropractic Care determines this during the all-important
physical exam. The MRI and other imaging studies are tools that
can help - 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 TAKES UP
DOESN’T MATTER
Some imaging studies or MRI images will illustrate
very large discs in back pain sufferers who have little
or no pain while back pain sufferers who are in awful
pain may show a minimal disc herniation. It can be frustrating.
Fortunately, research maintains that size is not everything. A research
paper documented that there was no correlation of pain
and disability with the size of a disc herniation found on MRI. (2) Another
study of 368 patients who had a lumbar disc herniation stated
that 91.3% of them did not undergo back surgery within a year. The
surgery patients’ discs occupied 31.5%
of their spinal canal while the non-surgical patients’ discs occupied 31.2% of their spinal canals. That’s 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 getting
a lumbar spine MRI scan. (3) In light of these
findings, Chiropractic Care chooses conservative treatment of these
disc herniations.
CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE
Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your
West Palm Beach chiropractor is the West Palm Beach back pain specialist.
Disc herniations causing pain are welcome
at Chiropractic Care as the spinal research indicates that, though
painful, disc herniations big and small respond
nicely to conservative treatment. As a matter of fact,
in following up with patients who underwent conservative
treatment for their disc herniation, 35% to 100% of the cases revealed
a decrease in the size of the disc. (4) Two
years after conservative care, herniated disc patients showed a 16.5%
reduction in size. 57% of patients had a reduction,
40% demonstrated no change in size, and 3% showed a larger
herniation. (5) More specifically, conservative treatment of
the disc herniation with flexion distraction Cox® Technic delivered
increases in the dimensions of the spinal canal by as much
as 28% in area, 17% in height and 7% in width. (6) West Palm Beach back pain
sufferers are grateful for such improvement in their disc
herniations as pain relief results.
CONTACT Chiropractic Care
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 significant
pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was enhanced with his
use of the
Cox®
Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your West Palm Beach chiropractic appointment
today. No matter its size, your disc herniation is in good
company and in good hands at Chiropractic Care.
"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the
DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by
Dr. James M. Cox I."