Size of Richmond Disc Herniation in Canal Is Not That Important
Disc herniations abound! 76% of us have one. (1) Do 76% of us have back pain right now? Thankfully, no! 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). Johnson Chiropractic figures this out during the all-important physical exam. The MRI and other imaging studies are tools that can assist - 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 illustrate very large discs in back pain sufferers who have minimal or no pain while back pain sufferers who are in excruciating pain may have a minimal disc herniation. It can be upsetting. Fortunately, research continues to comfort all involved by explaining that size isn’t everything. A research paper reported that there was no correlation of pain and disability with the size of a disc herniation seen on MRI. (2) Another study of 368 patients who had a lumbar disc herniation reported that 91.3% of them did not have back surgery within a year. The surgery patients’ discs occupied 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 variance. Researchers wrote 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) With knowledge of these findings, Johnson Chiropractic chooses conservative treatment of these disc herniations.
CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE
Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your Richmond chiropractor is the Richmond back pain specialist. Painful disc herniations are welcome at Johnson Chiropractic as the spinal research shows that, though painful, disc herniations big and small respond nicely to conservative treatment. Actually, in following up with patients who underwent conservative treatment for their disc herniation, 35% to 100% of the cases revealed a reduction in the size of the herniation. (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% showed a larger herniation. (5) Particularly, conservative treatment of the disc herniation with flexion distraction Cox® Technic produced increases in the dimensions of the spinal canal by as much as 28% in area, 17% in height and 7% in width. (6) Richmond back pain sufferers are grateful for such improvement in their disc herniations as pain relief results.
CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic
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 created considerable pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was enhanced with his use of the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Richmond chiropractic appointment today. No matter its size, your disc herniation is in good company and in good hands at Johnson Chiropractic.
