Size of Juneau Disc Herniation in Canal Isnt That Important
76% of us has a disc herniation. (1) Do 76% of us have back pain right now? Nope! Thank goodness! The presence of a disc herniation on imaging isn’t the important issue. The concern is whether that disc is producing pain either mechanically (by pressing on a nerve) or chemically (by irritating a nerve). Aurora Chiropractic Center figures this out during the all-important physical exam. The MRI and other imaging studies are extras that can assist - or distract - the chiropractic back pain treatment approach if the doctor and patient let it. So let’s not let it!
PERCENT OF SPINAL CANAL A DISC TAKES UP DOESN’T MATTER
Some imaging studies or MRI images will illustrate huge discs in back pain sufferers who have not a lot of or no pain while back pain sufferers who are in awful pain may show a minimal disc herniation. It can be upsetting. Fortunately, research continues to comfort all involved by explaining that size is not everything. A study documented 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 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 difference. Researchers wrote that this doesn’t predict which patients will fail nonsurgical treatment and require surgery within 2 years after getting a lumbar spine MRI scan. (3) In light of these findings, Aurora Chiropractic Center uses conservative treatment of these disc herniations.
CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE
Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your Juneau chiropractor is the Juneau back pain specialist. Disc herniations causing pain are welcome at Aurora Chiropractic Center as the spinal research shows that, though painful, disc herniations big and little react 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 herniation. (4) Two years after conservative care, herniated disc patients showed a 16.5% reduction in size. 57% of patients had a reduction, 40% demonstrated no change in size, and 3% had a larger herniation. (5) More specifically, conservative treatment of the disc herniation with flexion distraction Cox® Technic produced increases in the measurements of the spinal canal by as much as 28% in area, 17% in height and 7% in width. (6) Juneau back pain sufferers are happy with such improvement in their disc herniations as pain relief results.
CONTACT Aurora Chiropractic Center
Listen to the PODCAST with Dr. George Joachim on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson. Dr. Joachim shares 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 Juneau chiropractic appointment today. Regardless of its size, your disc herniation is in good company and in good hands at Aurora Chiropractic Center.
