McHenry Disc Herniations Can Go Away

“There’s a disc herniation in your spine.” does not have to strike fear in you. Conservative care helps lessen pain and even reduce the disc herniation. Surgery is not always required. Conservative care has been shown to reduce disc herniation and its associated back pain. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic utilizes gentle spinal manipulation as part of the general McHenry chiropractic care treatment plan.

DISC HERNIATIONS RESORB, GO AWAY, WITH CONSERVATIVE CARE: 70.39% WITHIN 6 MONTHS

A recent research meta-analysis report, the top-level review of medical literature on a given topic, reported on the spontaneous resorption of a lumbar disc herniation with conservative treatment. In 31 studies, the researchers found that the overall resorption rate was 70.39%. By type of disc, resorption rates varied from 13.33% to 87.77%. The rate of resorption was greater for a ruptured, non-contained disc (fragment) than a contained disc. Resorption rates varied by country from 60.68% in China to 83.52% in Korea. (The US resorption rate was 61.66%.) The report stated that the resorption process primarily occurred within 6 months of conservative treatment. (1) Another study of patient clinical outcomes in a single care center were analyzed for response to treatment of giant lumbar disc herniations. 41% of these patients’ "giant lumbar" discs appeared on imaging to have resorbed within 6 months, 37% in 6-12 months, and 32% after 12 months. The timespan for resorption was 1 month to 8 years. 59% of those who went through conservative care had more than 30% resorption. 25% experienced greater than 50% resorption. The authors of this study wrote that as long as there is no sign of progressive neurological deficit or cauda equina syndrome, conservative care was preferred as resorption was more probable with these disc protrusions that extended into the spinal canal. (2) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic agrees that in the absence of nerve injury and/or cauda equina symptoms, conservative treatment - like our gentle, safe chiropractic spinal manipulation - is helpful. Starting with the initial, complete examination of symptoms to the care at every visit, our McHenry back pain and neck pain patients with disc herniations often find relief and a decrease in their fear of their disc herniation and its impact on their life.

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Listen to this PODCAST with Dr Coleman Cormier on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes how he used The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management to help a patient with a large disc herniation.

Schedule your McHenry chiropractic appointment soon. We’re here to reduce your fear of a disc herniation and help you realize back pain and neck pain relief!