Chiropractic Effective for Herniated Disc Problems

Unfortunately, many of our Napa patients know the pain caused by a herniated disc all too well. On a positive note, Dr. Bettencourt has helped many people with disc pain, and a number of scientific studies have verified that chiropractic can help people recover from this kind of condition.

Research on Chiropractic and Disc Herniations

In one study, specialists from Switzerland selected 148 patients who were coping with pain in their low back and legs due to a herniated disc (which was confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI). Each person then received chiropractic adjustments that focused on the location of his or her disc problem.

Results were obtained after the initial treatment session at set intervals--namely, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year--to ascertain what kind of short-term and long-term effects, if any, chiropractic offers when it comes to treating this particular problem. Among the data gathered was the person's self-reported changes in both back and leg pain.

The authors found that, as a whole, the study participants reported "significant improvement" for both types of pain every time the results were collected. In fact, over 90% of the individuals claimed that their pain "improved" within the first three months, with 88% still citing improvement one year after their first treatment session.

Even those people who were defined as "chronic" still reported an improvement in pain at a rate of 89 percent one year beyond when treatment first began. This is the same positive result that was found in the following case study.

Disc Herniation and Chiropractic: A Case Study

In this report, a 26-year-old man had presented with disc herniation symptoms such as pain in the lower back, left leg, and left groin area, along with left foot drop and muscle weakness. He had endured these problems for more than two years after sustaining a sports injury, and his disc herniation was confirmed via MRI.

After receiving chiropractic, "The patient responded favorably and his multi-symptom complex resolved within 90 days of treatment." In addition, the patient was still experiencing relief one year after the chiropractic intervention.

Studies like these show how helpful chiropractic can be when it comes to alleviating herniated disc pain and reducing the symptoms they produce. So, if you are suffering from back ache caused by a herniated disc and want to find some relief, chiropractic may well be an effective solution.

Don't suffer from chronic herniated disc pain. Give our Napa office a call today at (707) 257-3600 for a consultation or appointment.

References

• Leemann S, Peterson CK, Schmid C, Anklin B, Humphreys BK. Outcomes of acute and chronic patients with magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed symptomatic lumbar disc herniations receiving high-velocity, low-amplitude, spinal manipulative therapy: a prospective observational cohort study with one-year follow-up. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2014;37(3):155-163.
• Polkinghorn BS, Colloca CJ. Treatment of symptomatic lumbar disc herniation using activator methods chiropractic technique. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 1998;21(3):187-196.