Chiropractic Relieves Disc Herniation Related Pain Often Without MRI
MRIs are cool. MRIs display impressive pictures of the body. Chiropractors appreciate spinal MRI images. Why? The spine is your Oxford chiropractor’s realm! Satterwhite Chiropractic appreciates the MRI image study for what it is: a a piece of the diagnostic puzzle. But MRIs are not always clinically necessary. Can MRI help decide whether to use non-surgical care or surgical care for back pain relief? Read on for the latest news.
The Usefulness of MRI
When a Oxford patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms denote the demand for an MRI, Satterwhite Chiropractic requests one for such a Oxford back pain patient. MRI may supplement your Oxford chiropractor’s clinical knowledge of the condition oftentimes (but not always!). Pre-treatment and post-MRI images are intriguing. Did the disc herniation shrink now that the pain is gone? Oxford chiropractic patients will often ask that of Satterwhite Chiropractic. And researchers will examine MRIs for their research studies on just such a question.
The Curiosity of MRI
Researchers aren’t the only ones who curiously survey MRI images of low back pain sufferers to see if there is any connection between pain and no pain and the MRI pre and post treatment for back pain. Patients wonder, too. Satterwhite Chiropractic knows our Oxford back pain patients wonder!
Knowing that doctors and patients find MRI images a curiosity when there is back pain and leg pain, 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 speculated whether MRI could help decide whether to do back surgery now or stay the course with conservative care. Satterwhite Chiropractic and the Oxford chiropractic low back pain patients we care for would love such a simple guide! Study participants were randomized to surgery or prolonged conservative care. Two findings – a disc extrusion and nerve root compression on MRI in patients with less severe leg pain – signified a satisfactory outcome with either form of care. Another noteworthy finding: the size of the disc herniation at the beginning of caredid not affect the outcome. The two groups revealed significant difference in outcomes between the two groups – surgical and conservative. (1) Satterwhite Chiropractic reads similar reports increasingly in the back pain research. Remember 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% vs. 53% non-surgical vs. surgical for back pain due to spinal stenosis (2) and 69% versus 61% surgical vs. non-surgical for sciatica (3).
Satterwhite Chiropractic Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation
Satterwhite Chiropractic invites you to make a Oxford chiropractic appointment today. Trust Satterwhite Chiropractic to provide evidence-based chiropractic care that alleviates your spine pain many times without an MRI. Together, we can set a non-surgical (and even potentially non-MRI!) treatment plan to alleviate your back pain.
Schedule your Oxford chiropractic appointment today.
