Chiropractic Reduces Disc Herniation Related Pain Often Without MRI

MRIs are fascinating. MRIs display impressive pictures of the body. Chiropractors appreciate spinal MRI images. Why? The spine is your Manahawkin chiropractor’s realm! Manahawkin Chiropractic Center appreciates the MRI image study for what it is: a a piece of the diagnostic puzzle. But MRIs are not always clinically necessary. Can MRI help decide whether a surgical or non-surgical approach is appropriate for back pain relief? Read on for the latest news.

The Usefulness of MRI

When a Manahawkin patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms indicate the demand for an MRI, Manahawkin Chiropractic Center requests one for such a Manahawkin back pain patient. MRI may add to your Manahawkin chiropractor’s clinical understanding of the condition oftentimes (but not always!).  Pre-treatment and post-MRI studies are interesting. Did the disc herniation shrink now that the pain left? Manahawkin chiropractic patients will often ask that of Manahawkin Chiropractic Center. 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 examine MRI images of low back pain sufferers to check if there is any correlation between pain and no pain and the MRI pre and post treatment for back pain. Patients wonder, too. Manahawkin Chiropractic Center knows our Manahawkin back pain patients wonder!

In noticing that doctors and patients find MRI images a curiosity when there is back pain and leg pain, some researchers planned to determine the value of MRI in predicting treatment outcomes in patients with sciatic leg pain due to a herniated lumbar disc. They speculated whether MRI could help determine whether to do back surgery now or stay the course with conservative care. Manahawkin Chiropractic Center and the Manahawkin chiropractic low back pain patients we treat 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 – suggested 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. The two groups revealed significant difference in outcomes between the two groups – surgical and conservative. (1) Manahawkin Chiropractic Center reads similar reports increasingly in the back pain research.  Remember the Atlas studies of surgical and non-surgical interventions for back pain and sciatica? There was not much variation in those landmark studies either: 50% versus 53% non-surgical vs. surgical for back pain due to spinal stenosis (2) and 69% versus 61% surgical versus non-surgical for sciatica (3).

Manahawkin Chiropractic Center Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation

Manahawkin Chiropractic Center invites you to make a Manahawkin chiropractic appointment today. Trust Manahawkin Chiropractic Center 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 Manahawkin chiropractic appointment today.