Chiropractic Reduces Disc Herniation Related Pain Often Without MRI

MRIs are fascinating. They show some amazing images of the body. Chiropractors appreciate spinal MRI images. Why? The spine is where chiropractors like your Malverne chiropractor live day in and day out. Malverne Health & Wellness values the MRI image study for what it is: a tool. But MRIs are not always a clinical necessity. Can MRI help determine whether a surgical or non-surgical approach is appropriate for back pain relief? Read on for the most recent findings.

The Usefulness of MRI

When a Malverne patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms indicate the need for an MRI, Malverne Health & Wellness requests one for such a Malverne back pain patient. MRI may supplement your Malverne chiropractor’s clinical understanding of the condition oftentimes (but not always!).  Pre-treatment and post-MRI images are intriguing. Did the disc herniation reduce now that the pain is gone? Malverne chiropractic patients will often ask that of Malverne Health & Wellness. 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 look at MRI images of low back pain sufferers to check 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. Malverne Health & Wellness knows our Malverne back pain patients wonder!

Knowing that doctors and patients dealing with back pain like MRIs, a group of 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 questioned if MRI could help determine whether to do back surgery now or stay the course with conservative care. Malverne Health & Wellness and the Malverne chiropractic low back pain patients we care for would love such a simple guide! Study participants were randomized to surgery or 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 type of care. Another interesting finding:  the size of the disc herniation at the beginning of caredid not affect the outcome. There was no significant difference in outcomes between the two groups – surgical and conservative. (1) Malverne Health & Wellness sees similar reports more and more in the back pain research.  Recall the Atlas studies of surgical and non-surgical interventions for back pain and sciatica? There wasn’t much variation in those classic studies either: 50% versus 53% non-surgical vs. surgical for back pain due to spinal stenosis (2) and 69% vs. 61% surgical versus non-surgical for sciatica (3).

Malverne Health & Wellness Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation

Malverne Health & Wellness invites you to make a Malverne chiropractic appointment today. Trust Malverne Health & Wellness to provide evidence-based chiropractic care that alleviates your spine pain many times without an MRI. Together, we can set a non-surgical (and even potentially non-MRI!) treatment plan to lessen your back pain.

Schedule your Malverne chiropractic appointment today.