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 concern is
whether that disc is producing pain either mechanically (by pressing
on a nerve) or chemically (by irritating a nerve). Johnson Chiropractic 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 let it. So let’s not allow 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 minimal
or no pain while back pain sufferers who are in awful
pain may have a minimal disc herniation. It can be upsetting.
Fortunately, research continues to comfort all involved by
explaining that size isn’t everything. A research
paper reported 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 said
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 took
up 31.2% of their spinal canals. That’s not much of a
difference. Researchers wrote that this does
not predict which patients will fail nonsurgical
treatment and need surgery within 2 years after getting
a lumbar spine MRI scan. (3) With knowledge of these
findings, Johnson Chiropractic chooses conservative treatment of these
disc herniations.
CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE
Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your
Richmond chiropractor is the Richmond back pain specialist.
Disc herniations causing pain are accepted
at Johnson Chiropractic as the spinal research indicates that, though
painful, disc herniations large and small react
nicely 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 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% showed 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) Richmond back pain
sufferers are happy with such improvement in their disc
herniations as pain relief results.
CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic
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 preoducing
spinal stenosis that generated considerable
pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was enhanced with his
use of the
Cox®
Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Richmond chiropractic appointment
today. Regardless of its size, your disc herniation is in good
company and in good hands at Johnson Chiropractic.
"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."