Chiropractic Helps Relieve Herniated Disc Pain

Sadly, several of our Parkland patients are familiar with the pain caused by a herniated disc all too well. Fortunately, Dr. Scharf has helped many people with disc pain, and a number of scientific studies have confirmed that chiropractic can help people recover from this kind of condition.

Research on Chiropractic and Disc Herniations

In one study, doctors from Switzerland recruited 148 patients who were coping with pain in their lower back and legs due to a herniated disc (which was confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI). Each individual then received chiropractic adjustments that focused on the area of his or her disc concern.

Results were collected after the first treatment session at set intervals--namely, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year to establish what type of short-term and long-term effects, if any, chiropractic care offers when it comes to resolving this particular condition. Among the information collected was the individual's self-reported changes in both back and leg pain.

Researchers found that, overall, the study participants reported "significant improvement" for both types of pain every time the results were collected. In fact, over 90% of the patients reported 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 claimed an improvement in pain at a rate of 89% one year beyond when treatment first began. This is the same positive effect that was found in the following case study.

Disc Herniation and Chiropractic: A Case Study

In this study, a 26-year-old male 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 suffered with these problems for more than two years after sustaining an athletic 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 enjoying relief one year after the chiropractic intervention.

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

Don't suffer from chronic herniated disc pain. Give our Parkland office a call today at (954) 227-0088 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.