January 2024 Healthy News from Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic Disc Herniation Size Doesnt Always Matter and Ways to Lower Chronic Pain
DISC SIZE DOESN’T (necessarily) MATTER!
Now that’s’ a twist on new year’s resolutions of dieting to downsize! With back pain and neck pain, a little disc is not necessarily pain-free. Surprised? If you have a small disc and pain, you aren’t! What matters is (1) the amount of pressure the disc protrusion is placing on the nerve root and/or (2) how much chemical irritation is involved if a disc extrusion’s inner gel-like material has exited the outer annular fibers and now surrounds the spinal nerve(s) which has (have) never come in contact with each other before. Nerves hurt when this new chemical irritant comes in! A tiny extruded disc can generate enormous pain if chemical irritation is part of the problem. A huge disc protrusion may not trigger pain at all if it does not contact a spinal nerve. (1-7) A 2023 published study just ended their report with the conclusion that the size of a disc protrusion did not show a noteworthy relationship to pain and function. (8) If you or a loved one or friend is starting 2024 with Augusta back pain with or without sciatic leg pain or neck pain with or without arm pain radiculopathy, come visit Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic for some Augusta pain relief with gentle, safe chiropractic Cox® Technic care!
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Timothy Gagan on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson about use of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for a patient experiencing back and leg pain because of a disc herniation.
Augusta CHIROPRACTIC TIP OF THE MONTH: 4 Ways to Reduce Chronic Pain In 2024
As researchers and healthcare professionals work toward establishing practice guidelines (ex: WHO) to manage chronic pain (back, neck, etc.), they are analyzing influencing factors that chronic pain sufferers and their caregivers need to address for best clinical outcomes:
- Understand the condition. A clear grasp of the chronic primary low back pain condition via education/advice was related to improvements in pain, function, quality of life, and psychological outcomes. (9)
- Consider emotional influences. Adverse childhood events were found to be significantly related to chronic pain and pain-related disability as an adult. (10)
- Undergo spinal manipulation. A review of nonpharmacological pain management methods used by Medicare patients found that manipulative therapies, mainly chiropractic, have been the most widely studied approaches. (11) Cox® Technic flexion-distraction - as we use in our targetlocation practice – benefitted a 67-year-old veteran who suffered with chronic low back pain and intermittent lower extremity pain for several decades find overall improvement in his condition, decrease use of pain medication, and gain mobility after 4 sessions in just a short 4-week period. (12)
- Exercise. Structured exercise programs were documented to decrease pain and functional limitation in chronic low back pain patients. (13)
Make 2024 your year for pain relief! Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic is excited to be your Augusta chiropractic partner in this effort. See you soon!