Chiropractic Relieves Disc Herniation Related Pain Often Without MRI
MRIs are cool. MRIs display impressive pictures of the body. Chiropractors like looking at spinal MRI images. Why? The spine is your Williamson chiropractor’s realm! Apple Country Chiropractic appreciates 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 latest findings.
The Usefulness of MRI
When a Williamson patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms indicate the demand for an MRI, Apple Country Chiropractic requests one for such a Williamson back pain patient. MRI may supplement your Williamson 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 disappeared? Williamson chiropractic patients will often ask that of Apple Country Chiropractic. And researchers will consider MRIs for their research studies on just such a query.
The Curiosity of MRI
Researchers aren’t the only ones who curiously survey MRI images of low back pain sufferers to see if there is any connection between pain and no pain and the MRI pre and post treatment for back pain. Patients wonder, too. Apple Country Chiropractic knows our Williamson back pain patients wonder!
In noticing that doctors and patients dealing with back pain like MRIs, a group of researchers planned to determine if MRI is of value in determining how treatment outcomes will be for patients who had a herniated lumbar disc with sciatica. They questioned if MRI could help decide whether to do back surgery now or stay the course with conservative care. Apple Country Chiropractic and the Williamson chiropractic low back pain patients we care for would love such a simple indicator! Study participants were randomly sent to surgical care or a course of 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 form of care. Another noteworthy finding: the size of the disc herniation at the beginning of caredid not affect the outcome. The two groups revealed significant difference in outcomes between them – surgical and conservative. (1) Apple Country Chiropractic sees similar reports more and more in the back pain research. Remember the Atlas studies of surgical and non-surgical interventions for back pain and sciatica? There wasn’t much difference in those landmark studies either: 50% vs. 53% non-surgical versus surgical for back pain due to spinal stenosis (2) and 69% versus 61% surgical versus non-surgical for sciatica (3).
Apple Country Chiropractic Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation
Apple Country Chiropractic invites you to make a Williamson chiropractic appointment today. Trust Apple Country Chiropractic to provide evidence-based chiropractic care that alleviates your spine pain many times without an MRI. Together, we can create a non-surgical (and even potentially non-MRI!) treatment plan to lessen your back pain.
Schedule your Williamson chiropractic appointment now.
