Vancouver Disc Centers Cares for Cervical Disc Herniations and Related Radiculopathy
Vancouver Disc Centers welcomes Vancouver neck pain patients with cervical spine disc herniations that trigger arm pain radiculopathy. Non-surgical care of arm pain radiculopathy helps Vancouver neck pain and arm pain sufferers find some relief without surgery.
CERVICAL RADICULOPATHY
In setting up a treatment plan for for cervical spine-related arm pain (aka cervical radiculopathy), research guidelines describe conservative management as a first-line treatment option over surgery. Clinically, cervical radiculopathy can pose as motor change, paresthesia, reflex change, numbness and/or sensory change. Researchers have been working to establish guidelines for its non-surgical management and treatment at different stages of pain including acute, subacute, and chronic. (1) Vancouver Disc Centers uses such guidelines in planning non-surgical treatment for our Vancouver chiropractic patients.
GUIDELINES FOR TREATING CERVICAL DISC HERNIATIONS
In writing 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 phases, the non-surgical interventions’ guidelines move from more passive care in the acute phase to chronic/more active, individualized, self-managed care. Particularly, for the acute stage, multimodal management involving spinal manipulation, patient education, exercise, and positioning that relieves the pain were effective. For subacute cervical radiculopathy, increased specific exercises, supervised motor control motions and/or mobilization may be added. For chronic pain, 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 prior to 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 unnecessary. The researcher acknowledged that more research was accessible 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 postulated that cervical disc herniations were apt to do the same. (4) Like the author, Vancouver Disc Centers holds out hope for our cervical disc herniation and cervical radiculopathy patients that surgery may not be necessary. Our conservative Vancouver chiropractic treatment will quite possibly help healing.
CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Umar Ellahie on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes cervical radiculopathy and its relieving care with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Vancouver chiropractic appointment soon. Cervical radiculopathy and cervical disc herniation sufferers have a pain-relieving partner at our chiropractic practice.
