Vancouver Disc Centers Treats Disc Herniation Pain
Disc herniations cause back pain and leg pain for some. Vancouver Disc Centers welcomes those disc herniation pain patients. Gentle, relieving treatment without surgery is what we provide. Vancouver back pain patients are relieved when they find us!
DISC HERNIATION: Size, Weight, Sleep
What matters when a disc causes back pain? Its size? Its weight? Its effect on quality of life? Spinal researchers have produced data and described that how the painful disc appears on imaging doesn’t really matter. The size and shape of an intervertebral spinal disc’s bulging nucleus pulposus has no tie to a what a patient’s symptoms may be or how a patient feels. (1) The weight of a disc fragment did not relate to the duration of symptoms or severity of pre- or post-operative leg pain nor post-operative leg pain or back pain improvement, the percentage of space the disc occupied in the spinal canal, herniation classification, or vertebral level. The size of the lumbar disc herniation did not have much effect on clinical outcomes. (2) Chronic lower back pain and sciatica due to lumbar disc herniation negatively impacted sufferer’s quality of sleep. Treatment benefitted patient perception of pain in visual analog scale (VAS) scores and the PSQI Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index scores. (3) Relieving chiropractic treatment of a pain-producing disc involves reducing the risk of recurrent back pain episodes as well as reducing the pain of the current episode.
MANAGING BACK PAIN AND RISK OF ITS RECURRENCE
Once you have experienced a disc herniation and its resulting back pain, you don’t want it again! Vancouver Disc Centers gets that and wants you to know that managing - as conservatively as possible - the disc herniation is more accurate than curing it. 6.05% of lumbar discectomy surgery patients had a re-current disc herniation. What prompted this? On their own, factors like age, BMI, current smoking status, heavy lifting, degenerative facet joint disease, operation time, and the ambulation time after surgery impacted the risk of recurrent disc herniation. Combined, older age, male sex, high body mass index (BMI), and early ambulation were significant factors in the recurrence or a lumbar disc herniation. Controlling weight, not lifting heavy items, and exercising were suggested risk reducers. (4) One new study reported that the amount of sedentary time probably did not raise the risk of a new bout of low back pain as much as the amount and type of physical activity. (5) Pain relief happens more as a roller coaster than a straight hill to pain relief. A disc herniation is like a bruise on an apple making the apple (and by comparison, the spine) never quite the same again. That is where Vancouver Disc Centers comes in with a treatment plan that makes sure you understand the disc herniation, how to feed it nutritionally, how to exercise to return it to strength and keep it strong, and how to do activities of daily living to prevent (re)injury. A recent systematic review of approaches to managing back pain revealed 10 approaches: manipulation/mobilization, psychological/behavioral, advice to stay active/bed rest, reassurance, antidepressants, NSAIDS, opioids, muscle relaxants, and paracetamol. (6) Vancouver Disc Centers supports walking, moving, careful lifting, and especially being treated with gentle, safe, effective Cox® Technic spinal manipulation!
CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Robert Patterson on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates the realistic expectations back pain patients can have with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Make your Vancouver chiropractic appointment now. Disc herniation sufferers are welcomed to our practice for relief and a plan for controlling its future effect on life.
