January 2024 Healthy News from Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers Disc Herniation Size Doesnt Always Matter and Ways to Lower Chronic Pain
DISC SIZE DOESN’T (necessarily) MATTER!
Now there is a novel idea for the start of a new year amidst all the talk of new year’s talk of dieting to downsize! With back pain and neck pain, a little disc isn’t really pain-free. Surprised? If you have a small disc and pain, you’re not! What does matter is (1) the amount of pressure the disc protrusion is placing on the nerve root and/or (2) the amount of chemical irritation is involved if an extruded disc’s inner gel-like material has left 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 disc extrusion can produce enormous pain if chemical irritation is involved. A huge disc protrusion may not produce pain at all if it doesn’t contact a spinal nerve. (1-7) A 2023 published study just concluded that the size of a disc protrusion did not show a significant relationship to pain and function. (8) If you or a loved one or friend is beginning 2024 with Baton Rouge back pain with or without sciatic leg pain or neck pain with or without arm pain radiculopathy, come see Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers for some Baton Rouge 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 suffering with back and leg pain due to a disc herniation.
Baton Rouge 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 studying influencing factors that chronic pain sufferers and their caregivers ought to address for optimal clinical outcomes:
- Understand the condition. A clear understanding 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 approaches chosen by Medicare patients found that manipulative therapies, mainly chiropractic, have been the most extensively studied approaches. (11) Cox® Technic flexion-distraction - as we use in our targetlocation practice – helped a 67-year-old veteran who suffered with chronic low back pain and intermittent lower extremity pain for many decades realize overall improvement in his condition, decrease use of pain medication, and gain mobility after 4 sessions over a 4-week period. (12)
- Exercise. Structured exercise programs were reported to reduce pain and functional limitation in chronic low back pain patients. (13)
Make 2024 your year for pain relief! Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers is excited to be your Baton Rouge chiropractic partner in this endeavor. See you soon!