Chiropractic Relieves Disc Herniation Related Pain Often Without MRI

MRIs are cool. MRIs display pretty pictures of the body. Chiropractors like looking at spinal MRI images. Why? The spine is where chiropractors like your Colorado Springs chiropractor live day in and day out. The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR values the MRI image study for what it is: a a piece of the diagnostic puzzle. 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 most recent findings.

The Usefulness of MRI

When a Colorado Springs patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms signal the need for an MRI, The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR requests one for such a Colorado Springs back pain patient. MRI may supplement your Colorado Springs chiropractor’s clinical knowledge of the condition oftentimes (but not always!).  Pre-treatment and post-MRI images are intriguing. Did the disc herniation shrink now that the pain is gone? Colorado Springs chiropractic patients will often ask that of The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR. And researchers will consider MRIs for their research studies on just such a query.

The Curiosity of MRI

Researchers are not the only ones who curiously examine 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. The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR is well aware that our Colorado Springs 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 the value of MRI in predicting treatment outcomes in patients with sciatic leg pain due to a herniated lumbar disc. They questioned if MRI could help determine whether to do back surgery now or stay the course with conservative care. The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR and the Colorado Springs chiropractic low back pain patients we care for would love such a simple indicator! Study participants were randomized to surgery or prolonged conservative care. Two findings – a disc extrusion and nerve root compression on MRI in patients with less severe leg pain – suggested a satisfactory outcome with either form of care. Another interesting finding:  the size of the disc herniation at the beginning of caredid not affect the outcome. There was no significant difference in outcomes between them – surgical and conservative. (1) The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR sees similar reports increasingly in the back pain research.  Remember the Atlas studies of surgical and non-surgical interventions for back pain and sciatica? There wasn’t much variation in those classic studies either: 50% versus 53% non-surgical vs. surgical for back pain due to spinal stenosis (2) and 69% versus 61% surgical vs. non-surgical for sciatica (3).

The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation

The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR encourages you to make a Colorado Springs chiropractic appointment today. Trust The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR to provide evidence-based chiropractic care that relieves your spine pain many times without an MRI. Together, we can create a non-surgical (and even potentially non-MRI!) treatment plan to alleviate your back pain.

Schedule your Colorado Springs chiropractic appointment today.