Size of Fort Wayne Disc Herniation in Canal Isnt That Important

Disc herniations abound! 76% of us have one. (1) Do all 76% have back pain right now? Nope! Thank goodness! The presence of a disc herniation on imaging isn’t the chief issue. The concern is whether that disc is causing pain either mechanically (by pressing on a nerve) or chemically (by irritating a nerve). Aaron Chiropractic Clinic figures this out in the course of the all-important physical exam. The MRI and other imaging studies are extras 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 illustrate very large discs in back pain sufferers who have minimal or no pain while back pain sufferers who are in awful pain may show a small disc herniation. It can be upsetting. 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 found on MRI. (2) Another study of 368 patients diagnosed with a lumbar disc herniation said that 91.3% of them did not have back surgery within a year. The surgery patients’ discs took up 31.5% of their spinal canal while the non-operative patients’ discs occupied 31.2% of their spinal canals. That’s 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) In light of these findings, Aaron Chiropractic Clinic chooses conservative treatment of these disc herniations.

CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE

Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your Fort Wayne chiropractor is the Fort Wayne back pain specialist. Painful disc herniations are welcome at Aaron Chiropractic Clinic as the spinal research shows that, though painful, disc herniations large and small respond nicely to conservative treatment. Actually, in following up with patients who underwent conservative treatment for their disc herniation, 35% to 100% of the cases showed a reduction in the size of the herniation. (4) Two years after conservative care, herniated disc patients showed a 16.5% decrease in size. 57% of patients showed a reduction, 40% demonstrated no change in size, and 3% had a bigger herniation. (5) Particularly, 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) Fort Wayne back pain sufferers are grateful for such improvement in their disc herniations as pain relief results.

CONTACT Aaron Chiropractic Clinic

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 generated significant pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was enhanced with his use of the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.

Schedule your Fort Wayne chiropractic appointment today. Regardless of its size, your disc herniation is in good company and in good hands at Aaron Chiropractic Clinic.