Size of St Peters Disc Herniation in Canal Isnt That Important
76% of us has a disc herniation. (1) Do 76% of us have back pain right now? Thankfully, no! The presence of a disc herniation on imaging is not 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). Old Mill Chiropractic determines this 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 TAKES UP 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 excruciating pain may show a small disc herniation. It can be upsetting. Fortunately, research maintains that size is not everything. A research paper reported 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 said that 91.3% of them did not undergo back surgery within a year. The surgery patients’ discs took up 31.5% of their spinal canal while the non-surgical patients’ discs occupied 31.2% of their spinal canals. That is not much of a difference. Researchers wrote that this does not predict which patients will fail nonoperative treatment and need surgery within 2 years after getting a lumbar spine MRI scan. (3) In light of these findings, Old Mill Chiropractic uses conservative treatment of these disc herniations.
CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE
Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your St Peters chiropractor is the St Peters back pain specialist. Painful disc herniations are accepted at Old Mill Chiropractic as the spinal research shows that, though painful, disc herniations big and small react well 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 revealed a decrease in the size of the disc. (4) Two years after conservative care, herniated disc patients showed a 16.5% reduction in size. 57% of patients showed a reduction, 40% showed no change in size, and 3% showed a bigger 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) St Peters back pain sufferers are happy with such improvement in their disc herniations as pain relief results.
CONTACT Old Mill Chiropractic
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 created significant pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was improved with his use of the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your St Peters chiropractic appointment today. Regardless of its size, your disc herniation is in good company and in good hands at Old Mill Chiropractic.
