Chiropractic Reduces Disc Herniation Related Pain Often Without MRI

MRIs are fascinating. They display some amazing images of the body. Chiropractors like looking at spinal MRI images. Why? The spine is where chiropractors like your Fort Wayne chiropractor live day in and day out. Aaron Chiropractic Clinic values the MRI image study for what it is: a a piece of the diagnostic puzzle. But MRIs are not always a clinical necessity. Can MRI help decide whether a surgical or non-surgical approach is appropriate for back pain relief? Read on for the most recent findings.

The Usefulness of MRI

When a Fort Wayne patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms indicate the need for an MRI, Aaron Chiropractic Clinic arranges one for such a Fort Wayne back pain patient. MRI may supplement your Fort Wayne chiropractor’s clinical perception of the condition oftentimes (but not always!).  Pre-treatment and post-MRI studies are intriguing. Did the disc herniation shrink now that the pain is gone? Fort Wayne chiropractic patients will often ask that of Aaron Chiropractic Clinic. And researchers will study MRIs for their research studies on just such a question.

The Curiosity of MRI

Researchers aren’t the only ones who curiously look at MRI images of low back pain sufferers to check if there is any connection between pain and no pain and the MRI pre and post treatment for back pain. Patients wonder, too. Aaron Chiropractic Clinic knows our Fort Wayne back pain patients wonder!

Knowing that doctors and patients find MRI images a curiosity when there is back pain and leg pain, a group of researchers set out to determine if MRI is of value in determining how treatment outcomes will be for patients with sciatic leg pain due to a herniated lumbar disc. They questioned if MRI could help determine whether to do back surgery now or stay the course with conservative care. Aaron Chiropractic Clinic and the Fort Wayne chiropractic low back pain patients we treat would love such a simple indicator! 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 – indicated a satisfactory outcome with either type of care. Another interesting finding:  the size of the disc herniation at the beginning of care didn’t affect the outcome. There was no significant difference in outcomes between them – surgical and conservative. (1) Aaron Chiropractic Clinic reads similar reports more and more in the back pain research.  Recall the Atlas studies of surgical and non-surgical interventions for back pain and sciatica? There wasn’t much variation in those classic studies either: 50% vs. 53% non-surgical versus surgical for back pain due to spinal stenosis (2) and 69% versus 61% surgical vs. non-surgical for sciatica (3).

Aaron Chiropractic Clinic Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation

Aaron Chiropractic Clinic invites you to make a Fort Wayne chiropractic appointment today. Trust Aaron Chiropractic Clinic 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 lessen your back pain.

Schedule your Fort Wayne chiropractic appointment now.