Chiropractic Relieves Disc Herniation Related Pain Often Without MRI

MRIs are cool. They display some great images 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 tool. But MRIs are not always clinically necessary. Can MRI help determine whether a surgical or non-surgical approach is appropriate for back pain relief? Read on for the most recent news.

The Usefulness of MRI

When a Williamson patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms denote the demand for an MRI, Apple Country Chiropractic orders one for such a Williamson back pain patient. MRI may enhance your Williamson chiropractor’s clinical knowledge of the condition oftentimes (but not always!).  Pre-treatment and post-MRI images are intriguing. Did the disc herniation reduce now that the pain left? Williamson chiropractic patients will often ask that of Apple Country Chiropractic. And researchers will study MRIs for their research studies on just such a query.

The Curiosity of MRI

Researchers aren’t the only ones who curiously examine MRI images of low back pain sufferers to ascertain if there is any connection between pain and no pain and the MRI at the beginning and end of treatment for back pain. Patients wonder, too. Apple Country Chiropractic knows our Williamson back pain patients wonder!

Knowing that doctors and patients find MRI images a curiosity when there is back pain and leg pain, 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 speculated whether 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 guide! 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 – signified 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. There was no 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 classic studies either: 50% versus 53% non-surgical versus surgical for back pain due to spinal stenosis (2) and 69% vs. 61% surgical versus non-surgical for sciatica (3).

Apple Country Chiropractic Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation

Apple Country Chiropractic encourages you to make a Williamson chiropractic appointment today. Trust Apple Country Chiropractic to provide evidence-based chiropractic care that relieves your spine pain many times without an MRI. Together, we can set a non-surgical (and even potentially non-MRI!) treatment plan to alleviate your back pain.

Schedule your Williamson chiropractic appointment today.