Chiropractic Superior for Sciatica Than Surgery

Dr. Messerschmidt works with many sciatica patients here in our Juneau, AK office, and many of these patients were afraid that they might need surgery to eliminate their pain. The most recent research shows that many people don't need surgery for this prevalent issue, and that chiropractic is more beneficial at solving sciatic nerve pain.

A popular surgery for sciatica is microdiscectomy, and in a 2010 study, specialists looked at 80 women and men with sciatica who were referred for this procedure.

Forty patients were then randomly placed in one of two groups. The first group was to receive surgical microdiscectomy and the second group was given chiropractic care.

Both groups got better; however, no apparent difference in outcome was recorded one year post-treatment between the surgery group and the chiropractic group. In addition, roughly sixty percent of the participating patients who could not find relief from any other treatment approach "benefited from spinal manipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention."

Put another way, chiropractic offered the same positive benefits as surgery without needing to go through the higher amounts of surgery-based pain or suffer through extended recovery times often associated with that type of treatment method. Plus, you also don't run the risks linked to surgical microdiscectomy, such as nerve root damage, bowel or bladder incontinence, bleeding, or infection.

Surgery should be the last option for sciatica pain. If you live in Juneau, AK and you're suffering from back pain or sciatica, give Dr. Messerschmidt a call today at (907) 789-1344. We'll help identify the start of your pain and work hard to get you relief.

References

• McMorland, G et al. Manipulation or microdiskectomy for sciatica? A prospective randomized clinical study. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2010;33(8):576-584.
• Solberg TK, Nygaard OP, Sjaavik K, Hofoss D, Ingebrigtsen T. The risk of "getting worse" after lumbar microdiscectomy. European Spine Journal 2005;14(1):49-54.