Size of Georgetown Disc Herniation in Canal Is Not 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 is not the chief issue. The matter is whether that disc is producing pain either mechanically (by pressing on a nerve) or chemically (by irritating a nerve). Dr. Butwell determines this 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 let it. So let’s not let it!
PERCENT OF SPINAL CANAL A DISC TAKES UP DOESN’T MATTER
Some imaging studies or MRI images will illustrate huge 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 small disc herniation. It can be frustrating. Luckily, research maintains that size is not everything. A research paper documented 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 have back surgery within a year. The surgery patients’ discs took up 31.5% of their spinal canal while the non-surgical patients’ discs took up 31.2% of their spinal canals. That is not much of a variance. Researchers wrote that this doesn’t predict which patients will fail nonsurgical treatment and need surgery within 2 years after getting a lumbar spine MRI scan. (3) In light of these findings, Dr. Butwell chooses conservative treatment of these disc herniations.
CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE
Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your Georgetown chiropractor is the Georgetown back pain specialist. Painful disc herniations are welcome at Dr. Butwell as the spinal research indicates that, though painful, disc herniations large and small react 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 revealed a reduction 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 showed a reduction, 40% showed no change in size, and 3% had 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) Georgetown back pain sufferers are happy with such improvement in their disc herniations as pain relief results.
CONTACT Dr. Butwell
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 resulting in spinal stenosis that generated significant pain and alteration to her lifestyle which was improved with his use of the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Georgetown chiropractic appointment today. No matter its size, your disc herniation is in good company and in good hands at Dr. Butwell.
