Size of Oxford Disc Herniation in Canal Isnt That Important
76% of us has a disc herniation. (1) Do all 76% have back pain right now? Thankfully, no! The presence of a disc herniation on imaging isn’t the important issue. The matter is whether that disc is producing pain either mechanically (by pressing on a nerve) or chemically (by irritating a nerve). Satterwhite 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 let it. So let’s not let 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 excruciating pain may show a small disc herniation. It can be frustrating. Luckily, research maintains that size isn’t 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 occupied 31.5% of their spinal canal while the non-surgical patients’ discs took up 31.2% of their spinal canals. That’s not much of a difference. Researchers report that this doesn’t predict which patients will fail nonoperative treatment and require surgery within 2 years after getting a lumbar spine MRI scan. (3) With knowledge of these findings, Satterwhite Chiropractic uses conservative treatment of these disc herniations.
CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE
Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your Oxford chiropractor is the Oxford back pain specialist. Painful disc herniations are accepted at Satterwhite Chiropractic as the spinal research indicates that, though painful, disc herniations large and little respond nicely to conservative treatment. As a matter of fact, in following up with patients who chose 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% demonstrated no change in size, and 3% showed a larger herniation. (5) More specifically, 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) Oxford back pain sufferers are grateful for such improvement in their disc herniations as pain relief results.
CONTACT Satterwhite 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 preoducing spinal stenosis that created considerable pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was improved with his use of the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Oxford chiropractic appointment today. Regardless of its size, your disc herniation is in good company and in good hands at Satterwhite Chiropractic.
