McHenry Chiropractic Care for Thoracic Disc Herniation
The thoracic spine, the middle part of your spine, gets ignored. “Mid back pain” does not simply come out of your mouth in quite the same way as “neck pain” and “back pain” or “arm pain” and “leg pain”. But the thoracic spine can have pain of its own. A thoracic disc herniation may be associated with seemingly unrelated conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, painful or frequent urination. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic does talk about the thoracic spine and its mid-back pain. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic gently treats the thoracic spine’s mid-back pain to effectively ease it.
THORACIC DISC HERNIATION
The incidence of thoracic disc herniation in people who have no pain is 11-37%. It is not as rare as we think. Two studies reported abdominal wall bulges: A patient later found to have a thoracic disc herniation at T11-12 on MRI imaging came to the doctor with a lateral abdominal wall bulge that diminished 8 months later as the disc herniation got better. (1) Another two similar cases with herniations at T12-L1 and T10-11 and T11-12 had paresis of the abdominis muscle. After conservative treatment, muscle strength returned to normal in 3 to 6 months. (2) Symptoms of thoracic disc herniation can vary from abdominal pain, constipation, urinary incontinence, anesthesia or lack of anal reflex, bowel dysfunction, nausea, to irritable bowel among other issues. (3) A couple other reports describe the occurrence of gastrointestinal and gastrourinary issues with thoracic disc herniations. In a study of 100 patients with thoracic disc herniation, 95% had one or more digestive-urologic symptoms, but only 3% were diagnosed with thoracic disc protrusion. 70.76% of thoracic disc herniations occurred below the T7 level. Most were central herniations (65.25%). 85% of thoracic disc herniation patients with abdominal pain had a positive DN4 test for neuropathic pain compared with only 8% in the control group. 77% of the patients had abdominal pain (and 16.88% of them had had a surgery to relieve the pain to find that they still have the same pain after surgery). 90% of thoracic disc pain patients have back pain, 43% report pubic pain, 35% report genital area pain, 66% have lower limb pain. (4) Thoracic disc herniation sufferers often experience these issues – chronic abdominal pain, digestive issues, and urological symptoms. Another researcher gave details about two patients with T10-11 herniations who showed moderate lower extremity weakness, increased patellar tendon reflex, and sensory disturbance of the whole lower extremities. (5) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic does a thorough examination to figure out just how a thoracic disc herniation is affecting our McHenry chiropractic mid-back pain patients.
EXAMINATION
Gastrointestinal surgeons are quite likely to see patients with thoracic disc herniation as their symptoms are gastrointestinal and/or gastrourinary in nature but without any organic reason for them. A dependable test to see if the abdominal pain is related to issues with the abdomen or a visceral issue is Carnett’s Sign. It is well-known for its sensitivity of 78 to 85% and specificity of 88 to 97%. (6) It leads the examining physician to the source of pain! For McHenry patients with unexplained abdominal pain or odd abdominal wall bulges, consult OrthoIllinois Chiropractic who understands the connection of these issues to the thoracic disc herniation. Gentle, chiropractic spinal manipulation with Cox® Technic to the thoracic spine may help ease pain and symptomatology of the thoracic disc herniation.
CONTACT OrthoIllinois Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Kurt Olding on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson who really knows and understands the unusual but important thoracic disc herniation. Dr. Olding describes the thoracic disc herniation and its symptomatology as well as its alleviating treatment with Cox® Technic.
Schedule a McHenry chiropractic appointment at OrthoIllinois Chiropractic for your thoracic spine and its mid-back concerns. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic does not overlook the thoracic spine, and you shouldn’t either!
