Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office Cares for Cervical Disc Herniations and Related Radiculopathy
Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office takes care of Groton neck pain patients with cervical spine disc herniations that trigger arm pain radiculopathy. Non-surgical care of arm pain radiculopathy helps Groton neck pain and arm pain sufferers find some relief without surgery.
CERVICAL RADICULOPATHY
In caring for cervical spine-related arm pain known as cervical radiculopathy, research guidelines report conservative management as a first-line treatment alternative over surgery. Clinically, cervical radiculopathy can appear as numbness, paresthesia, motor change, reflex change and/or sensory change. Researchers have been working to set guidelines for its non-surgical management and treatment at different stages of pain including acute, subacute, and chronic. (1) Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office uses such guidelines in planning non-surgical treatment for our Groton chiropractic patients.
GUIDELINES FOR TREATING CERVICAL DISC HERNIATIONS
In reporting the non-surgical guidelines, researchers described the risk-benefit ratio for surgical treatment of cervical radiculopathy as less favorable than for non-surgical, conservative care. In looking at 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 helpful. 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 included}29}. (2) We find that our neck and arm pain patients appreciate activities like this that allow them to return to doing what they want to do.
TIME AND THE CERVICAL DISC HERNIATION
Overall, in a recent systematic review study, 56.4% of degenerative cervical radiculopathy patients - 39.1% of conservatively treated patients and 60.5% of surgically treated patients – described motor deficits before treatment. (3) A spine surgeon presented a case report of a patient who was ready to undergo cervical spine discectomy/fusion surgery for a C4-C5 disc herniation whose repeated MRI showed that the disc had resorbed, making surgery needless. The researcher conceded 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 resorption of the disc in 43% to 75% yet contended that cervical disc herniations were likely to do the same. (4) Like the author, Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office holds out hope for our cervical disc herniation and cervical radiculopathy patients that surgery may not be necessary. Our conservative Groton chiropractic treatment may well help in relieving the symptoms and pain.
CONTACT Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office
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.
Make your Groton chiropractic appointment now. Cervical radiculopathy and cervical disc herniation sufferers have a pain-relieving partner at our chiropractic practice.
