“You have to know where you came from to know where you are
going.”
It is true for all of us individually,
familiarly, and professionally. It is true for
medicine – allopathic and alternative - too. It’s true for the knowledge
of the disc and the spine it houses. Awareness
of New Roads back pain continues to evolve, and
one of the foremost milestones was rather recent
in our human history. New Roads Chiropractic Center shares
past and current discoveries about the disc
and the back pain it causes as well as the
New Roads chiropractic care that relieves that back
pain.
HISTORY OF THE DISC HERNIATION
The understanding of disc herniation as a
compressive force on spinal nerves causing back pain and leg
pain is a relatively recent phenomenon. Keep
in mind that the spine changes as it matures. The shape
of the disc and the composition of it tissue changes. The disc’s center,
nucleus pulposus, changes and decreases in size. (1) We know
differently today, but in 1909, the disc herniation was thought
to be a tumor. In 1930, a neurologist (T Alajouanine) and surgeon (D
Petit-Dutaillis) explained their surgical experiences with disc
herniations that were initially talked about by a pathologist
named CG Schmorl. But it was not until 1934 when WJ Mixter and JS
Barr published the first report of surgically taking out disc herniations in 19 patients. (2) (Unless it is
published, it did not happen…and you don’t get credit
for it!) So it was less than a century ago that
the disc herniation was named a disc herniation and known
as such! Allopathy and alternative medicine like chiropractic have risen
to the challenge in that time.
ALLOPATHY and ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
Allopathic medicine is traditionally focused
on the disease and tends to concentrate
on symptom-specific treatment (usually pharmacological or invasive) to get
rid of the cause of pain. Alternative medicine traditionally
focused on a whole-body approach and tends to focus on treatments that stimulate
the body’s capability to heal itself (herbal supplements, Reiki, chiropractic, Tai chi, acupuncture, etc.) to reduce pain. (3) Nowadays, integrative medicine is growing in its appreciation and use of the best of both.
CHIROPRACTIC TREATMENT FOR DISC HERNIATION
Chiropractic care is comprehensive
care for spine pain conditions. For the disc herniation resulting in
low back pain, neck pain, leg pain and/or arm pain, gentle flexion distraction
spinal manipulation is relieving. A new study points
out that horizontal traction was quite helpful
in producing a significant enlargement of
average lumbar spine disc height and reduction in lumbar
lordosis. (4) Such is available with the Cox Technic System of Spinal Pain
Management causing long-y axis distraction. New Roads Chiropractic Center specializes
in this treatment. Cox Technic is depicted as a non-thrust low
velocity variable amplitude spinal manipulation that takes care of low
back pain non-pharmacologically. It is evidence-based to
reduce pain in chronic low back pain patients. (5) It decreases
intradiscal pressure in the disc to as low as -192mmHg, widens the
spinal canal area by 28%, and increases disc height by 17%. (6)
New Roads Chiropractic Center relieves back pain due to disc herniation quite
effectively.
CONTACT New Roads Chiropractic Center
Listen to this PODCAST
by Dr. Jake Bohnen on The Back
Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson. He discusses a
case of a disc herniation he treated with Cox® Technic and reduced pain…and the
herniation on MRI!
Schedule a non-surgical New Roads chiropractic care
appointment with New Roads Chiropractic Center today. Together, we will determine where you have been on your back pain journey
and create a path of correction and control for its
future with the most suitable treatment possible.