Aurora Chiropractic Center Cares for Cervical Disc Herniations and Related Radiculopathy
Aurora Chiropractic Center treats Juneau neck pain patients with cervical spine disc herniations that cause arm pain radiculopathy. Non-surgical care of arm pain radiculopathy eases Juneau neck pain and arm pain non-surgically.
CERVICAL RADICULOPATHY
In caring for cervical spine-related arm pain (aka cervical radiculopathy), research guidelines describe conservative management as a first-line treatment alternative over surgery. Clinically, cervical radiculopathy can pose as motor change, paresthesia, reflex change, numbness and/or sensory change. Researchers have been collaborating to establish guidelines for its non-surgical management and treatment at various stages of pain including acute, subacute, and chronic. (1) Aurora Chiropractic Center uses such guidelines in planning non-surgical treatment for our Juneau chiropractic patients.
GUIDELINES FOR TREATING CERVICAL DISC HERNIATIONS
In reporting the non-surgical guidelines, researchers explained the risk-benefit ratio for surgical treatment of cervical radiculopathy as less promising than for non-surgical, conservative care. When studying the care of cervical radiculopathy through its stages, the non-surgical interventions’ guidelines shift from acute/more passive care to more active, individualized, self-managed care in the chronic phase. Particularly, for the acute stage, multimodal management including spinal manipulation, patient education, exercise, and positioning that eases the pain were valuable. For subacute cervical radiculopathy, increased specific exercises, supervised motor control motions and/or mobilization may be added. In the chronic phase, patients may profit from general aerobic exercise and strength training, postural instruction, and ergonomic assessment of job-related activities, general aerobic exercise and strength training, postural instruction, and ergonomic assessment of job-related activities may be incorporated}29}. (2) We know that our neck and arm pain patients appreciate activities like this that allow them to return to living.
TIME AND THE CERVICAL DISC HERNIATION
Overall, in one systematic review study, 56.4% of degenerative cervical radiculopathy patients - 39.1% of conservatively treated patients and 60.5% of surgically treated patients – reported motor deficits before treatment. (3) A spine surgeon described a case report of a patient headed for cervical spine discectomy/fusion surgery for a C4-C5 disc herniation whose repeated MRI showed that the disc had resorbed, rendering surgery needless. The researcher conceded that more research was available on lumbar disc herniations’ decreasing as seen on MRI by 34.7% to 95% over 6 to 17 months and total resolution of the disc in 43% to 75% yet contended that cervical disc herniations were apt to do the same. (4) Like the author, Aurora Chiropractic Center holds out hope for our cervical disc herniation and cervical radiculopathy patients that surgery may not be required. Our conservative Juneau chiropractic treatment may well help in relieving the symptoms and pain.
CONTACT Aurora Chiropractic Center
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Umar Ellahie on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates cervical radiculopathy and its relieving care with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Make your Juneau chiropractic appointment soon. Cervical radiculopathy and cervical disc herniation sufferers experience a pain-relieving partner at our office.
