Chiropractic Treats Herniated Disc Issues

Unfortunately, many of our Tumwater patients experience the pain caused by a herniated disc all too well. Fortunately, Dr. Harrell has helped many people with disc pain, and a number of scientific studies have verified that chiropractic care can help patients recover from this kind of problem.

Research on Herniated Discs and Chiropractic

In one study, doctors from Switzerland selected 148 patients who were dealing with pain in their low 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 location of his or her disc concern.

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

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

Even those patients who were defined as "chronic" still claimed an improvement in pain at a rate of 89 percent 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 man had presented with disc herniation symptoms such as pain in the low back, left leg, and left groin area, along with left foot drop and muscle weakness. He had endured these symptoms for more than two years after sustaining an athletic injury, and his disc herniation was confirmed via MRI.

After receiving chiropractic care, "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 useful chiropractic can be when it comes to alleviating herniated disc pain and relieving 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 can be an effective solution.

Don't suffer from chronic herniated disc pain. Give our Tumwater office a call today at (360) 489-0635 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.