Chiropractic Reduces Disc Herniation Related Pain Often Without MRI

MRIs are fascinating. They display some great images of the body. Chiropractors like looking at spinal MRI images. Why? The spine is your McHenry chiropractor’s realm! OrthoIllinois Chiropractic appreciates the MRI image study for what it is: a tool. But MRIs are not always clinically necessary. Can MRI help decide whether a surgical or non-surgical approach is appropriate for back pain relief? Read on for the latest findings.

The Usefulness of MRI

When a McHenry patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms indicate the demand for an MRI, OrthoIllinois Chiropractic arranges one for such a McHenry back pain patient. MRI may add to your McHenry chiropractor’s clinical understanding of the condition oftentimes (but not always!).  Pre-treatment and post-MRI studies are intriguing. Did the disc herniation reduce now that the pain left? McHenry chiropractic patients will often ask that of OrthoIllinois Chiropractic. And researchers will consider MRIs for their research studies on just such a question.

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. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic is well aware that our McHenry back pain patients wonder!

Knowing that doctors and patients find MRI images a curiosity when there is back pain and leg pain, some researchers set out to determine if MRI is of value in determining how treatment outcomes will be for patients who had a herniated lumbar disc with sciatica. They questioned if MRI could help determine whether to do back surgery now or stay the course with conservative care. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic and the McHenry chiropractic low back pain patients we care for would love such a simple indicator! Study participants were randomly sent to surgical care or a course of prolonged conservative care. Two findings – a disc extrusion and nerve root compression on MRI in patients with less severe leg pain – signified a satisfactory outcome with either form of care. Another noteworthy finding:  the size of the disc herniation at the beginning of caredid not affect the outcome. The two groups revealed significant difference in outcomes between them – surgical and conservative. (1) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic reads similar reports increasingly in the back pain research.  Remember the Atlas studies of surgical and non-surgical interventions for back pain and sciatica? There was not much difference in those classic studies either: 50% versus 53% non-surgical versus surgical for back pain due to spinal stenosis (2) and 69% vs. 61% surgical versus non-surgical for sciatica (3).

OrthoIllinois Chiropractic Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation

OrthoIllinois Chiropractic invites you to make a McHenry chiropractic appointment today. Trust OrthoIllinois Chiropractic 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 alleviate your back pain.

Schedule your McHenry chiropractic appointment now.