Size of Ashburn Disc Herniation in Canal Is Not That Important

Disc herniations abound! 76% of us have one. (1) Do 76% of us have back pain right now? Nope! Thank goodness! The presence of a disc herniation on imaging isn’t 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). Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn figures this out in the course of the all-important physical exam. The MRI and other imaging studies are tools that can assist - 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 show very large discs in back pain sufferers who have little or no pain while back pain sufferers who are in unbearable pain may show a small disc herniation. It can be frustrating. Fortunately, research maintains that size isn’t everything. A research paper 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 who had a lumbar disc herniation reported that 91.3% of them did not undergo back surgery within a year. The surgery patients’ discs occupied 31.5% of their spinal canal while the non-surgical 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 require surgery within 2 years after undergoing a lumbar spine MRI scan. (3) With knowledge of these findings, Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn chooses conservative treatment of these disc herniations.

CONSERVATIVE CARE EFFECT ON DISC SIZE

Chiropractors are back pain specialists. Your Ashburn chiropractor is the Ashburn back pain specialist. Painful disc herniations are accepted at Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn as the spinal research shows that, though painful, disc herniations big and small respond well to conservative treatment. Actually, in following up with patients who chose conservative treatment for their disc herniation, 35% to 100% of the cases showed 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 had a reduction, 40% demonstrated no change in size, and 3% showed a bigger herniation. (5) Particularly, conservative treatment of the disc herniation with flexion distraction Cox® Technic delivered increases in the dimensions of the spinal canal by as much as 28% in area, 17% in height and 7% in width. (6) Ashburn back pain sufferers are happy with such improvement in their disc herniations as pain relief results.

CONTACT Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn

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

Schedule your Ashburn chiropractic appointment today. No matter its size, your disc herniation is in good company and in good hands at Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn.