76% of us has
a disc herniation. (1) Do all 76% have back pain right now? Nope! Thank goodness! The presence of a disc herniation on imaging isn’t the important issue. The issue is
whether that disc is producing pain either mechanically (by pressing
on a nerve) or chemically (by irritating a nerve). Vancouver Disc Centers figures
this out in the course of the all-important
physical exam. The MRI and other imaging studies are extras that
can help - or distract - the chiropractic back pain treatment approach if the
doctor and patient allow it. So let’s not let it!
PERCENT OF SPINAL CANAL A DISC OCCUPIES
DOESN’T MATTER
Some imaging studies or MRI images will show
very large discs in back pain sufferers who have not a lot of
or no pain while back pain sufferers who are in unbearable
pain may have a minimal disc herniation. It can be frustrating.
Luckily, research maintains that size isn’t everything. A study documented that there was no correlation of pain
and disability with the size of a disc herniation found on MRI. (2) Another
study of 368 patients diagnosed with a lumbar disc herniation stated
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 took
up 31.2% of their spinal canals. That is not much of a
variance. Researchers report that this does
not predict which patients will fail nonsurgical
treatment and need surgery within 2 years after undergoing
a lumbar spine MRI scan. (3) In light of these
findings, Vancouver Disc Centers chooses conservative treatment of these
disc herniations.
CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE
Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your
Vancouver chiropractor is the Vancouver back pain specialist.
Painful disc herniations are accepted
at Vancouver Disc Centers as the spinal research indicates that, though
painful, disc herniations large and little react
nicely to conservative treatment. As a matter of fact,
in following up with patients who underwent conservative
treatment for their disc herniation, 35% to 100% of the cases showed
a reduction in the size of the disc. (4) Two
years after conservative care, herniated disc patients showed a 16.5%
decrease 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) Vancouver back pain
sufferers are grateful for such improvement in their disc
herniations as pain relief results.
CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers
Listen to the PODCAST
with Dr. George Joachim on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson. Dr. Joachim presents
the case of a patient with a disc herniation resulting in
spinal stenosis that generated significant
pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was enhanced with his
use of the
Cox®
Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Vancouver chiropractic appointment
today. No matter its size, your disc herniation is in good
company and in good hands at Vancouver Disc Centers.