Chiropractic Relieves Disc Herniation Related Pain Often Without MRI

MRIs are cool. MRIs display impressive pictures of the body. Chiropractors appreciate spinal MRI images. Why? The spine is your Minster chiropractor’s realm! Minster Chiropractic Center appreciates the MRI image study for what it is: a tool. But MRIs are not always a clinical necessity. 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 Minster patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms indicate the demand for an MRI, Minster Chiropractic Center orders one for such a Minster back pain patient. MRI may supplement your Minster chiropractor’s clinical understanding of the condition oftentimes (but not always!).  Pre-treatment and post-MRI images are interesting. Did the disc herniation reduce now that the pain left? Minster chiropractic patients will often ask that of Minster Chiropractic Center. 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 ascertain if there is any connection between pain and no pain and the MRI pre and post treatment for back pain. Patients wonder, too. Minster Chiropractic Center is well aware that our Minster back pain patients wonder!

In noticing that doctors and patients find MRI images a curiosity when there is back pain and leg pain, a group of researchers set out to determine the value of MRI in predicting treatment outcomes in 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. Minster Chiropractic Center and the Minster chiropractic low back pain patients we care for 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 – 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. There was no significant difference in outcomes between the two groups – surgical and conservative. (1) Minster Chiropractic Center 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 versus non-surgical for sciatica (3).

Minster Chiropractic Center Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation

Minster Chiropractic Center invites you to make a Minster chiropractic appointment today. Trust Minster Chiropractic Center to provide evidence-based chiropractic care that alleviates 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 Minster chiropractic appointment now.