Apple Country Chiropractic welcomes
Williamson neck pain patients with cervical spine disc
herniations that cause arm pain radiculopathy. Non-surgical care
of arm pain radiculopathy helps Williamson neck pain and arm pain sufferers find
some relief without surgery.
CERVICAL RADICULOPATHY
In managing for
cervical spine-related arm pain (aka cervical
radiculopathy), research guidelines describe conservative
management as a first-line treatment alternative over surgery.
Clinically, cervical radiculopathy can appear as numbness, paresthesia, motor
change, reflex change and/or sensory change. Researchers have been collaborating
to establish guidelines for its non-surgical management and treatment
at various stages of pain including acute, subacute, and
chronic. (1) Apple Country Chiropractic uses such guidelines in planning non-surgical treatment
for our Williamson chiropractic patients.
GUIDELINES FOR TREATING CERVICAL DISC HERNIATIONS
In writing the non-surgical
guidelines, researchers explained the risk-benefit ratio for
surgical treatment of cervical radiculopathy as less beneficial
than for non-surgical, conservative care. When studying the
care of cervical radiculopathy through its phases, the
non-surgical interventions’ guidelines shift from more passive care in the acute phase to more active, individualized, self-managed
care in the chronic phase. Specifically, for the acute
stage, multimodal management involving spinal manipulation, patient
education, exercise, and positioning that alleviates the
pain were effective. For subacute cervical
radiculopathy, increased specific exercises, supervised motor
control motions and/or mobilization may be added. In the
chronic phase, patients may benefit from general aerobic exercise
and strength training, postural instruction, and ergonomic assessment of
job-related activities, general aerobic exercise and
strength training, postural instruction, and ergonomic assessment of
job-related activities may be incorporated}29}. (2) We understand
that our neck and arm pain patients appreciate activities
like this that allow them to return to living.
TIME AND THE CERVICAL DISC HERNIATION
Overall, in one systematic review study, 56.4%
of degenerative cervical radiculopathy patients - 39.1% of conservatively
treated patients and 60.5% of surgically treated patients – experienced motor deficits prior to treatment. (3) A
spine surgeon presented a case report of a patient who
was ready to undergo cervical spine discectomy/fusion surgery
for a C4-C5 disc herniation whose repeated MRI showed that the disc had resorbed, rendering surgery unnecessary.
The researcher conceded that more research was available
on the decrease
of lumbar disc herniations seen on MRI by 34.7% to 95% over 6 to 17 months
and total resolution of the disc in 43% to 75% yet postulated
that cervical disc herniations were likely to do
the same. (4) Like the author,
Apple Country Chiropractic holds out hope for our cervical disc herniation and cervical
radiculopathy patients that surgery may not be necessary. Our
conservative Williamson chiropractic treatment will quite possibly help in relieving the symptoms and pain.
CONTACT Apple Country Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Umar Ellahie on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
describes cervical radiculopathy and its relieving care with
The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Williamson chiropractic
appointment soon. Cervical radiculopathy and cervical disc
herniation sufferers find a pain-relieving partner at our
clinic.