Size of Groton 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? Thankfully, no! The presence of a disc herniation on imaging is not the important issue. The concern is whether that disc is causing pain either mechanically (by pressing on a nerve) or chemically (by irritating a nerve). Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office determines this during the all-important physical exam. The MRI and other imaging studies are tools that can help - 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 show very large discs in back pain sufferers who have not a lot of or no pain while back pain sufferers who are in awful pain may show a minimal disc herniation. It can be frustrating. Fortunately, research continues to comfort all involved by explaining that size is not 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 said 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-operative patients’ discs took up 31.2% of their spinal canals. That is not much of a variance. Researchers wrote that this does not predict which patients will fail nonoperative treatment and need surgery within 2 years after undergoing a lumbar spine MRI scan. (3) With knowledge of these findings, Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office uses conservative treatment of these disc herniations.

CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE

Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your Groton chiropractor is the Groton back pain specialist. Painful disc herniations are welcome at Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office as the spinal research indicates that, though painful, disc herniations big 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 disc. (4) Two years after conservative care, herniated disc patients showed a 16.5% decrease in size. 57% of patients had a reduction, 40% showed no change in size, and 3% showed a bigger herniation. (5) More specifically, conservative treatment of the disc herniation with flexion distraction Cox® Technic produced increases in the measurements of the spinal canal by as much as 28% in area, 17% in height and 7% in width. (6) Groton back pain sufferers are grateful for such improvement in their disc herniations as pain relief results.

CONTACT Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office

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 preoducing spinal stenosis that generated considerable pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was improved with his use of the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.

Schedule your Groton chiropractic appointment today. Regardless of its size, your disc herniation is in good company and in good hands at Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office.