76% of us has
a disc herniation. (1) Do 76% of us have back pain right now? Thankfully,
no! The presence of a disc herniation on imaging isn’t the important issue. The matter is
whether that disc is producing pain either mechanically (by pressing
on a nerve) or chemically (by irritating a nerve). Back And Neck Care Center determines this in the course of 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 allow it!
PERCENT OF SPINAL CANAL A DISC TAKES UP
DOESN’T MATTER
Some imaging studies or MRI images will show
very large discs in back pain sufferers who have minimal
or no pain while back pain sufferers who are in awful
pain may have a small disc herniation. It can be annoying.
Fortunately, research continues to comfort all involved by
explaining 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 diagnosed with a lumbar disc herniation reported
that 91.3% of them did not have 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
variance. Researchers report that this doesn’t predict which patients will fail nonoperative
treatment and require surgery within 2 years after undergoing
a lumbar spine MRI scan. (3) In light of these
findings, Back And Neck Care Center uses conservative treatment of these
disc herniations.
CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE
Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your
Severna Park chiropractor is the Severna Park back pain specialist.
Disc herniations causing pain are accepted
at Back And Neck Care Center as the spinal research shows that, though
painful, disc herniations big and little respond
nicely to conservative treatment. As a matter of fact,
in following up with patients who chose conservative
treatment for their disc herniation, 35% to 100% of the cases showed
a decrease in the size of the disc. (4) Two
years after conservative care, herniated disc patients had a 16.5%
reduction in size. 57% of patients showed a reduction,
40% showed no change in size, and 3% had a larger
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) Severna Park back pain
sufferers are happy with such improvement in their disc
herniations as pain relief results.
CONTACT Back And Neck Care Center
Listen to the PODCAST
with Dr. George Joachim on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson. Dr. Joachim presents
the case of a patient with a disc herniation resulting in
spinal stenosis that created significant
pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was enhanced with his
use of the
Cox®
Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Severna Park chiropractic appointment
today. No matter its size, your disc herniation is in good
company and in good hands at Back And Neck Care Center.
"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."