Chiropractic Reduces Disc Herniation Related Pain Often Without MRI

MRIs are fascinating. They show some amazing images of the body. Chiropractors like looking at spinal MRI images. Why? The spine is your Paramus chiropractor’s realm! Paramus Medical & Sports Rehabilitation 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 to use non-surgical care or surgical care for back pain relief? Read on for the latest findings.

The Usefulness of MRI

When a Paramus patient’s back pain, neck pain, arm pain or leg pain symptoms signal the need for an MRI, Paramus Medical & Sports Rehabilitation Center orders one for such a Paramus back pain patient. MRI may supplement your Paramus chiropractor’s clinical perception of the condition oftentimes (but not always!).  Pre-treatment and post-MRI studies are intriguing. Did the disc herniation shrink now that the pain disappeared? Paramus chiropractic patients will often ask that of Paramus Medical & Sports Rehabilitation Center. 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 connection between pain and no pain and the MRI at the beginning and end of treatment for back pain. Patients wonder, too. Paramus Medical & Sports Rehabilitation Center knows our Paramus 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 planned 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. Paramus Medical & Sports Rehabilitation Center and the Paramus chiropractic low back pain patients we care for would love such a simple guide! 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 – signified 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) Paramus Medical & Sports Rehabilitation Center reads similar reports increasingly in the back pain research.  Recall the Atlas studies of surgical and non-surgical interventions for back pain and sciatica? There was not much variation in those landmark studies either: 50% versus 53% non-surgical versus surgical for back pain due to spinal stenosis (2) and 69% versus 61% surgical versus non-surgical for sciatica (3).

Paramus Medical & Sports Rehabilitation Center Offers Chiropractic Non-Surgical Care of Disc Herniation

Paramus Medical & Sports Rehabilitation Center encourages you to make a Paramus chiropractic appointment today. Trust Paramus Medical & Sports Rehabilitation Center to provide evidence-based chiropractic care that relieves your spine pain many times without an MRI. Together, we can set a non-surgical (and even potentially non-MRI!) treatment plan to lessen your back pain.

Schedule your Paramus chiropractic appointment now.