Chiropractic Reduces Disc Herniation Related Pain Often Without MRI

MRIs are fascinating. MRIs display pretty pictures of the body. Chiropractors appreciate spinal MRI images. Why? The spine is your Groton chiropractor’s realm! Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office appreciates the MRI image study for what it is: a tool. But MRIs are not always a clinical necessity. Can MRI help determine whether to use non-surgical care or surgical care for back pain relief? Read on for the latest findings.

The Usefulness of MRI

When a Groton patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms denote the need for an MRI, Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office requests one for such a Groton back pain patient. MRI may add to your Groton chiropractor’s clinical perception of the condition oftentimes (but not always!).  Pre-treatment and post-MRI studies are intriguing. Did the disc herniation shrink now that the pain left? Groton chiropractic patients will often ask that of Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office. And researchers will consider MRIs for their research studies on just such a query.

The Curiosity of MRI

Researchers are not the only ones who curiously survey MRI images of low back pain sufferers to check if there is any connection between pain and no pain and the MRI at the beginning and end of treatment for back pain. Patients wonder, too. Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office is well aware that our Groton back pain patients wonder!

In noticing that doctors and patients dealing with back pain like MRIs, some researchers set out to determine the value of MRI in predicting treatment outcomes in patients who had a herniated lumbar disc with sciatica. They questioned if MRI could help decide whether to do back surgery now or stay the course with conservative care. Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office and the Groton chiropractic low back pain patients we care for would love such a simple guide! Study participants were randomly sent to surgical care or a course of prolonged conservative care. Two findings – a disc extrusion and nerve root compression on MRI in patients with less severe leg pain – suggested a satisfactory outcome with either form of care. Another interesting finding:  the size of the disc herniation at the beginning of caredid not affect the outcome. There was no significant difference in outcomes between them – surgical and conservative. (1) Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office reads similar reports more and more in the back pain research.  Recall the Atlas studies of surgical and non-surgical interventions for back pain and sciatica? There was not much difference in those classic studies either: 50% versus 53% non-surgical versus surgical for back pain due to spinal stenosis (2) and 69% versus 61% surgical versus non-surgical for sciatica (3).

Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation

Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office asks you to make a Groton chiropractic appointment today. Trust Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office to provide evidence-based chiropractic care that relieves your spine pain many times without an MRI. Together, we can create a non-surgical (and even potentially non-MRI!) treatment plan to reduce your back pain.

Schedule your Groton chiropractic appointment today.