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 where chiropractors like your Fernandina Beach chiropractor live day in and day out. Amelia Chiropractic Clinic values the MRI image study for what it is: a tool. But MRIs are not always a clinical necessity. Can MRI help determine whether to use non-surgical care or surgical care for back pain relief? Read on for the most recent news.

The Usefulness of MRI

When a Fernandina Beach patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms denote the demand for an MRI, Amelia Chiropractic Clinic requests one for such a Fernandina Beach back pain patient. MRI may add to your Fernandina Beach chiropractor’s clinical knowledge of the condition oftentimes (but not always!).  Pre-treatment and post-MRI studies are interesting. Did the disc herniation shrink now that the pain left? Fernandina Beach chiropractic patients will often ask that of Amelia Chiropractic Clinic. And researchers will examine MRIs for their research studies on just such a question.

The Curiosity of MRI

Researchers are not the only ones who curiously study MRI images of low back pain sufferers to check if there is any correlation between pain and no pain and the MRI at the beginning and end of treatment for back pain. Patients wonder, too. Amelia Chiropractic Clinic is well aware that our Fernandina Beach 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 decide whether to do back surgery now or stay the course with conservative care. Amelia Chiropractic Clinic and the Fernandina Beach chiropractic low back pain patients we treat would love such a simple guide! 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 – suggested a satisfactory outcome with either form of care. Another noteworthy finding:  the size of the disc herniation at the beginning of care didn’t affect the outcome. The two groups revealed significant difference in outcomes between them – surgical and conservative. (1) Amelia Chiropractic Clinic sees similar reports more and more in the back pain research.  Remember the Atlas studies of surgical and non-surgical interventions for back pain and sciatica? There wasn’t much difference in those classic studies either: 50% vs. 53% non-surgical versus surgical for back pain due to spinal stenosis (2) and 69% versus 61% surgical vs. non-surgical for sciatica (3).

Amelia Chiropractic Clinic Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation

Amelia Chiropractic Clinic asks you to make a Fernandina Beach chiropractic appointment today. Trust Amelia Chiropractic Clinic 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 reduce your back pain.

Schedule your Fernandina Beach chiropractic appointment today.