Size of Groton Disc Herniation in Canal Isnt That Important
Disc herniations abound! 76% of us have one. (1) Do all 76% have back pain right now? Nope! Thank goodness! The presence of a disc herniation on imaging is not the important issue. The matter is whether that disc is causing pain either mechanically (by pressing on a nerve) or chemically (by irritating a nerve). Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office figures this out during 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 allow it!
PERCENT OF SPINAL CANAL A DISC OCCUPIES DOESN’T MATTER
Some imaging studies or MRI images will illustrate huge discs in back pain sufferers who have minimal or no pain while back pain sufferers who are in awful pain may have a small disc herniation. It can be upsetting. Luckily, research maintains that size is not 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 who had 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’s not much of a variance. 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) With knowledge of these findings, Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office uses conservative treatment of these disc herniations.
CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE
Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your Groton chiropractor is the Groton back pain specialist. Painful disc herniations are accepted at Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office as the spinal research shows that, though painful, disc herniations big and small react nicely to conservative treatment. Actually, in following up with patients who underwent conservative treatment for their disc herniation, 35% to 100% of the cases showed a decrease in the size of the disc. (4) Two years after conservative care, herniated disc patients had 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) Particularly, conservative treatment of the disc herniation with flexion distraction Cox® Technic delivered increases in the measurements of the spinal canal by as much as 28% in area, 17% in height and 7% in width. (6) Groton back pain sufferers are happy with such improvement in their disc herniations as pain relief results.
CONTACT Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office
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 resulting in spinal stenosis that generated considerable pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was enhanced with his use of the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Groton chiropractic appointment today. No matter its size, your disc herniation is in good company and in good hands at Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office.
