Is Chiropractic Care Effective for Herniated Discs?
What is a Herniated Disc
Your spinal column is made up of 33 vertebrae. Between each pair of vertebrae is an intervertebral disc, a flexible cushion that is filled with a jelly-like substance. These soft, gelatinous discs protect the vertebra by absorbing the shock from everyday physical activities, like walking, bending, twisting, and lifting.
Injury or weakness may cause the gelatinous inner substance to tear through the disc fibers or enter the spinal canal, putting pressure on the spinal nerve. This can occur as a result of trauma, hereditary factors, lack of proper exercise, being overweight, or just as part of the aging process.
This condition is known as a herniated, bulging, or slipped disc. It usually occurs in the lumbar (low back) or cervical (neck) area and can cause weakness, swelling, inflammation.
What are the Symptoms of a Herniated Disc?
If your disc herniation is in the lumbar area, you may experience dull or sharp pain in the low back. When you make a motion that puts pressure on the disc, you may feel shooting pain, almost like an electrical shock. There may be weakness in your leg muscles or pain radiating down the outside of your leg, even into the foot. This is known as sciatica.
You may have difficulty standing up straight, getting in or out of a chair, or bending over. This pain is usually one-sided, but if more than one disc is involved, it can affect both sides. Putting your arms up to work overhead will increase the pain. Vacuuming or doing the dishes may exacerbate your condition. Anything that puts pressure on the low back, including sneezing, coughing, or going to the bathroom, may hurt. It may be painful and difficult just to walk.
If your herniation is in the cervical region, you may experience neck pain, headaches, and weakness. You may not be able to turn your head to the side of the herniation. You may experience sharp pain when attempting to turn your head. Pain, tingling, or numbness may include the shoulder area and may radiate down the arm and hand.
All disc herniations tend to get worse when you are sleeping. It may be difficult to find a comfortable position to sleep because of your pain. You will probably have difficulty getting out of bed in the morning and find increased stiffness and pain after sleeping. The disc pain may wake you up during the night.
What are the Treatment Options for a Herniated Disc?
Chiropractic Care
Chiropractors seek to take pressure off the disc by manipulating the spinal vertebrae and restoring them to their proper position, taking pressure off the disc and the nerve. Their care may also include therapies to help relieve the pain and restore the ligaments and the disc, and natural remedies to reduce inflammation.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy will provide specific exercises to help strengthen the lower back and abdominal muscles to restore range of motion, mobility, and flexibility. However, physical therapists are not trained or licensed to manipulate the vertebra back into position.
Epidural Steroid Injections
A medical doctor may prescribe a steroid injection into the area around the nerve to provide short-term pain relief by reducing inflammation. A patient can only receive three injections, as repeated injections can cause bone loss and onsite osteoporosis.
An injection may relieve pain in patients who have not seen results with other nonsurgical care or whose pain is too intense to receive nonsurgical care without immediate relief. However, the injections only relieve the symptoms without fixing the underlying problems.
Surgery
Only about 10 % of patients with disc herniations require surgery.
If you experience a loss of bladder or bowel control, you should see a medical doctor immediately. Surgery is usually required for disc herniations that present with these symptoms.
For lumbar disc herniations, surgery is usually only recommended when 6-12 weeks of nonsurgical treatments have not been successful in removing symptoms, or in cases where there is muscle weakness, continued difficulty walking, or loss of bladder or bowel control.
For cervical disc herniations, spinal surgery is usually only recommended when 6-12 weeks of nonsurgical treatments have not been able to resolve pain, numbness or weakness radiating down the arm.
Why is Chiropractic Care a Preferred Option for Treating Herniated Discs?
Chiropractic care is safe and effective for most spinal disc herniations. It is non-invasive, drug-free, and less expensive than injections or surgical options.
Chiropractors relieve the pain, inflammation, and nerve compression caused by a herniated disc by adjusting or manipulating the spinal vertebrae and restoring them to their proper position.
A chiropractor will start with an orthopedic and neurological examination to determine whether chiropractic care is a good option for your condition. A good chiropractor will refer you to an orthopedic surgeon if he feels after the examination or at any point in your care that surgery may be necessary.
How Will a Chiropractor Treat My Disc Herniation?
A chiropractor will manipulate or adjust the spinal vertebra by putting their hands or a specific instrument on the affected area and performing a gentle thrust to move the spinal vertebra, reducing the rotation, and allowing the vertebra to stay in a more stable position.
Putting the vertebrae back into alignment will increase range of motion, mobility, flexibility and muscle strength and allow proper blood flow to the injured disc to bring needed fluid and nutrition to the disc so that it can repair and recover from injury.
You will need repeated adjustments or manipulations, initially two to three times a week for the first few weeks, until the muscles attached to the vertebra are returned to a position of strength and can keep the vertebra in their proper position. As the muscles are strengthened, your care will be spaced out to once a week, then once every two weeks, until the vertebral position is maintained.
Your chiropractor may also utilize other therapies to reduce pain, such as interferential electrical stimulation, and herbal remedies to help reduce pain and inflammation. He may recommend specific exercises to strengthen your muscles and prevent further occurrences.
If the disc herniation is not resolved through manipulation alone, your chiropractor may suggest spinal decompression therapy.
What is Spinal Decompression Therapy and How Does It Help a Herniated Disc to Heal?
Spinal decompression for herniated discs provides computerized traction with specific patterns of distraction and relaxation that create a kind of vacuum, drawing the bulging disc back into place and pulling the vital fluids and nutrients back into the disc to speed healing. It helps increase the space between the vertebra, further relieving pressure on the nerves that are causing pain.
For this therapy, the patient lies on a table and is strapped in with a pelvic harness for lumbar decompression, or a neck traction device for cervical traction. Spinal decompression for herniated discs provides computerized traction with specific patterns of distraction and relaxation that create a kind of vacuum, drawing the bulging disc back into place and pulling the vital fluids and nutrients back into the disc to speed healing.
This is very different from using a regular traction table, an inversion table, or the “use at home” traction devices, which can actually harm a herniated disc.
Spinal decompression is not recommended for those who have severe osteoporosis, severe obesity, severe nerve damage, are pregnant or have metal implants.
Not all decompression tables are the same! Make sure that your chiropractor is using a table that includes a computerized unit that is programmed with specific patterns that have been clinically proven to safely reduce pressure on the disc. The unit should allow for varying levels of pressure and the table should be able to be manipulated so that decompression will occur at the disc level and specific pressure you need.
This process relieves the pressure on the nerves that cause pain and strengthens the ligament bands, so they can hold the disc in place again, making healing more permanent.
When Should I Start to Receive Care for a Herniated Disc?
Activities of daily living, such as driving, bending, twisting, and lifting can make your condition worse, so it’s important to receive care as quickly as possible. Generally, the longer you wait to receive care, the more your condition will deteriorate and the more care you will need to rehabilitate.
If you decide to receive chiropractic care, choose a chiropractor who has experience in treating herniated discs and can provide you with proper spinal decompression treatment if necessary.
90% of disc herniations can be resolved without surgical intervention. The sooner you begin care, the sooner you will begin to recover and can return to your normal activities without pain!
Dr. Hunter Greenwood DC ND MTAA is a chiropractor and naturopathic physician certified in acupuncture and with 40 years of experience treating patients with disc herniations. Dr. Greenwood utilizes the most advanced spinal decompression table, the Triton DTS, at Chiropractor Plus, 1361 W. Mt. Vernon Street in Nixa, Missouri.
If you are suffering from the symptoms of a herniated disc, call Dr. Greenwood today at 417-725-6655 to schedule your appointment.
Isn’t it time YOU felt good again?
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The contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Hunter Greenwood DC ND. The information on this site is not intended as medical advice. Dr. Greenwood recommends that patients make their health care decisions carefully after doing their own research and consulting with a licensed health care professional.
