Disc herniations cause back pain and
leg pain for some. Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries welcomes those disc herniation pain patients. Gentle, relieving treatment
without surgery is what we provide. Manchester back
pain patients find relief when they find us!
DISC HERNIATION: Size, Weight, Sleep
What matters when a disc triggers back
pain? Its size? Its weight? Its effect on quality of life? Spinal researchers have
generated data and published that what the pain-producing disc looks like on imaging does
not really matter. The shape and size of an intervertebral
spinal disc’s bulging nucleus pulposus has no tie to
a what a patient’s symptoms may be
or how a patient feels. (1) The weight of a disc fragment did not relate to the duration of symptoms or severity
of pre- or post-operative leg pain nor post-operative leg pain or back pain improvement,
the percentage of space the disc occupied in the spinal canal, herniation classification, or vertebral level. The size
of the lumbar disc herniation did not have much effect on clinical
outcomes. (2) Chronic lower back pain and sciatica due to lumbar disc
herniation negatively impacted sufferer’s
quality of sleep. Treatment benefitted
patient perception of pain in visual analog scale (VAS) scores and the PSQI Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index scores. (3) Relieving
chiropractic treatment of a pain-producing disc entails
decreasing the risk of recurrent back pain episodes as well as reducing
the pain of the current episode.
MANAGING BACK PAIN AND RISK OF ITS RECURRENCE
Once you’ve felt back pain related to a
disc herniation,
you do not want to have it back! Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries gets
that and wants you to know that managing - as conservatively as
possible - the disc herniation is more realistic than curing it.
6.05% of lumbar discectomy surgery patients had a re-current disc
herniation. What prompted this? On their own, factors
like age, BMI, current smoking status, heavy lifting, degenerative facet joint
disease, operation time, and the time it took to ambulate
after surgery impacted the risk of recurrent disc herniation.
Combined, older age, male sex, high body mass index (BMI), and early ambulation
were significant factors in the recurrence or a
lumbar disc herniation. Managing weight, not lifting heavy
items, and exercising were suggested risk reducers. (4) One new
study reported that the amount of sedentary time probably did not increase
the risk of a new occurrence of low back pain
as much as the amount and type of physical activity. (5) Pain relief happens
more as a roller coaster than a straight hill to pain relief. A
disc herniation is like a bruise on an apple making the apple (and
by comparison, the spine) never quite the same again. That is
where Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries comes in with a treatment plan that makes sure
you know all there is to know about a disc herniation, how
to nutritionally take care of it, how to get it
back to being strong with exercise and keeping it that way, and how to perform activities
of daily living to prevent (re)injury. A newer
systematic review of ways to approach the management
of back pain revealed 10 approaches:
manipulation/mobilization, psychological/behavioral, advice to stay active/bed
rest, reassurance, antidepressants, NSAIDS, opioids, muscle relaxants, and
paracetamol. (6) Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries promotes walking, moving,
careful lifting, and especially being treated with gentle, safe, effective Cox®
Technic spinal manipulation!
CONTACT Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Robert Patterson on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the realistic expectations
back pain patients can have with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal
Pain Management.
Make your Manchester chiropractic
appointment today. Disc herniation sufferers are invited
to our practice for relief and a plan for controlling its future impact
on life.