Size of Fernandina Beach Disc Herniation in Canal Isnt That Important

Disc herniations abound! 76% of us have one. (1) Do 76% of us have back pain right now? Nope! Thank goodness! The presence of a disc herniation on imaging is not the chief issue. The issue is whether that disc is causing pain either mechanically (by pressing on a nerve) or chemically (by irritating a nerve). Amelia Chiropractic Clinic determines this 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 allow it! 

PERCENT OF SPINAL CANAL A DISC OCCUPIES DOESN’T MATTER

Some imaging studies or MRI images will show huge discs in back pain sufferers who have minimal or no pain while back pain sufferers who are in awful pain may have a minimal disc herniation. It can be annoying. Fortunately, research maintains that size is not everything. A study 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 undergo back surgery within a year. The surgery patients’ discs took up 31.5% of their spinal canal while the non-surgical patients’ discs took up 31.2% of their spinal canals. That is not much of a difference. Researchers report that this doesn’t predict which patients will fail nonsurgical treatment and need surgery within 2 years after undergoing a lumbar spine MRI scan. (3) In light of these findings, Amelia Chiropractic Clinic uses conservative treatment of these disc herniations.

CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE

Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your Fernandina Beach chiropractor is the Fernandina Beach back pain specialist. Disc herniations causing pain are welcome at Amelia Chiropractic Clinic as the spinal research indicates that, though painful, disc herniations large and small react nicely to conservative treatment. Actually, in following up with patients who had conservative treatment for their disc herniation, 35% to 100% of the cases showed a decrease in the size of the herniation. (4) Two years after conservative care, herniated disc patients showed a 16.5% reduction in size. 57% of patients had a reduction, 40% showed no change in size, and 3% showed a larger herniation. (5) Particularly, conservative treatment of the disc herniation with flexion distraction Cox® Technic delivered increases in the dimensions of the spinal canal by as much as 28% in area, 17% in height and 7% in width. (6) Fernandina Beach back pain sufferers are grateful for such improvement in their disc herniations as pain relief results.

CONTACT Amelia Chiropractic Clinic

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 created significant pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was enhanced with his use of the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.

Schedule your Fernandina Beach chiropractic appointment today. No matter its size, your disc herniation is in good company and in good hands at Amelia Chiropractic Clinic.