January 2024 Healthy News from Satterwhite Chiropractic Disc Herniation Size Doesnt Always Matter and Ways to Lower Chronic Pain
DISC SIZE DOESN’T (necessarily) MATTER!
Now there is a twist on new year’s resolutions of dieting to downsize! With back pain and neck pain, a small disc isn’t necessarily pain-free. Surprised? If you have a small disc and pain, you aren’t! What matters is (1) how much mechanical pressure the disc protrusion is putting on the nerve root and/or (2) the amount of chemical irritation is involved if an extruded disc’s inner gel-like material has exited the outer annular fibers and now envelops the spinal nerve(s) which has (have) never touched each other before. Nerves hurt when this new chemical irritant comes in! A tiny disc extrusion can generate enormous pain if chemical irritation is part of the problem. A huge disc protrusion may not produce pain at all if it doesn’t contact a spinal nerve. (1-7) A 2023 published study just concluded that the size of a disc protrusion did not demonstrate a noteworthy relationship to pain and function. (8) If you or a loved one or friend is beginning 2024 with Oxford back pain with or without sciatic leg pain or neck pain with or without arm pain radiculopathy, come visit Satterwhite Chiropractic for some Oxford pain relief with gentle, safe chiropractic Cox® Technic care!
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Timothy Gagan on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson about use of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for a patient suffering with back and leg pain because of a disc herniation.
Oxford CHIROPRACTIC TIP OF THE MONTH: 4 Ways to Ease Chronic Pain In 2024
As researchers and healthcare professionals work toward establishing practice guidelines (ex: WHO) in managing chronic pain (back, neck, etc.), they are studying influencing factors that chronic pain sufferers and their caregivers ought to address for best clinical outcomes:
- Understand the condition. A clear grasp of the chronic primary low back pain condition via education/advice was related to improvements in pain, function, quality of life, and psychological outcomes. (9)
- Consider emotional influences. Adverse childhood events were documented to be significantly associated with chronic pain and pain-related disability as an adult. (10)
- Undergo spinal manipulation. A study of nonpharmacological pain management methods chosen by Medicare patients found that manipulative therapies, mainly chiropractic, have been the most extensively investigated approaches. (11) Cox® Technic flexion-distraction - as we use in our chiropractic practice – benefitted a 67-year-old veteran who experienced chronic low back pain and intermittent lower extremity pain for several decades get overall improvement in his condition, reduce use of pain medication, and gain mobility after 4 sessions in just a short 4-week period. (12)
- Exercise. Structured exercise programs were reported to decrease pain and functional limitation in chronic low back pain patients. (13)
Make 2024 your year for pain relief! Satterwhite Chiropractic is ready to be your Oxford chiropractic partner in this project. See you soon!