Size of Richmond Disc Herniation in Canal Isnt That Important

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.