Herniated Discs—How Chiropractic Care Is Able To Help
Having a herniated disc is a dreaded diagnosis for many back pain sufferers. The actual words "herniated disc" are enough to cause anxiety and worry over possible agony, surgery and disability. In reality, the spinal disc is often responsible for many painful conditions typically blamed on it. This is often due to the extremely common nature of disc bulges and ruptures, as well as the common occurrence of disc degeneration with osteoarthritis.
Herniated discs can occur anywhere in the spine, but are usually found in the neck and lower back. The cervical spine, also known as the neck, is an area, which must bend and flex constantly in many directions, as well as hold up the significant weight of the head. The discs in the neck often wear out from all this movement and disc degeneration is often diagnosed in one or more vertebral levels by the age of 30 and sometimes younger. The lumbar spine, also known as the lower back, is the most common location for degenerative disc disease to occur and these age and activity related changes are usually in effect by the age of 20, especially at L4/L5 and L5/S1. Herniated discs are also common in both of these spinal regions and can occur from injury, degeneration or idiopathic reasons.
Herniated discs are thought to create pain in several possible ways. The most common is called foraminal stenosis, also known as a pinched nerve. This condition exists when a bulging or ruptured disc puts pressure laterally on one of the spinal nerve roots that exit the spinal column at every vertebral level. When this event happens, continued compression of the nerve root may result in decreased sensation. This is objective numbness, not the subjective numbness often experienced by many patients. Additionally, there may be no pain or tingling, although real muscular weakness in the area served by the pinched nerve is likely.
The next possible source of herniated disc back pain is due to spinal stenosis. This is diagnosed when the disc applies pressure posteriorly to the actual spinal cord, narrowing the spinal canal through which the cord passes. Many cases of spinal stenosis are completely asymptomatic, while occasionally, this condition can be a real problem. Along with the pressure from the disc, other symptomatic instances of spinal stenosis exist when bone spurs (osteophytes) are also causing a narrowed canal width.
The third way that herniated disc back pain may be explained is from a chemical source. This is when the disc has a rip or a tear, and the proteins from the interior of the disc bleed out of the damaged disc structure and irritate the surrounding nerve tissue.
Doctor of chiropractics evaluate the entire spine. If a patient has a herniated disc, your chiropractor will also evaluate other areas of the spine too, to see how they are affected. Because the spine functions as a whole, mechanical problems in one part of the spine can affect another area of the spine. To treat a herniated disc, your doctor of chiropractic will develop a treatment plan that may include spinal manipulation and other chiropractic techniques to help ease your herniated disc symptoms. This will be an individualized treatment plan, but it may include manual therapy and therapeutic exercises.
Herniated discs can occur anywhere in the spine, but are usually found in the neck and lower back. The cervical spine, also known as the neck, is an area, which must bend and flex constantly in many directions, as well as hold up the significant weight of the head. The discs in the neck often wear out from all this movement and disc degeneration is often diagnosed in one or more vertebral levels by the age of 30 and sometimes younger. The lumbar spine, also known as the lower back, is the most common location for degenerative disc disease to occur and these age and activity related changes are usually in effect by the age of 20, especially at L4/L5 and L5/S1. Herniated discs are also common in both of these spinal regions and can occur from injury, degeneration or idiopathic reasons.
Herniated discs are thought to create pain in several possible ways. The most common is called foraminal stenosis, also known as a pinched nerve. This condition exists when a bulging or ruptured disc puts pressure laterally on one of the spinal nerve roots that exit the spinal column at every vertebral level. When this event happens, continued compression of the nerve root may result in decreased sensation. This is objective numbness, not the subjective numbness often experienced by many patients. Additionally, there may be no pain or tingling, although real muscular weakness in the area served by the pinched nerve is likely.
The next possible source of herniated disc back pain is due to spinal stenosis. This is diagnosed when the disc applies pressure posteriorly to the actual spinal cord, narrowing the spinal canal through which the cord passes. Many cases of spinal stenosis are completely asymptomatic, while occasionally, this condition can be a real problem. Along with the pressure from the disc, other symptomatic instances of spinal stenosis exist when bone spurs (osteophytes) are also causing a narrowed canal width.
The third way that herniated disc back pain may be explained is from a chemical source. This is when the disc has a rip or a tear, and the proteins from the interior of the disc bleed out of the damaged disc structure and irritate the surrounding nerve tissue.
Doctor of chiropractics evaluate the entire spine. If a patient has a herniated disc, your chiropractor will also evaluate other areas of the spine too, to see how they are affected. Because the spine functions as a whole, mechanical problems in one part of the spine can affect another area of the spine. To treat a herniated disc, your doctor of chiropractic will develop a treatment plan that may include spinal manipulation and other chiropractic techniques to help ease your herniated disc symptoms. This will be an individualized treatment plan, but it may include manual therapy and therapeutic exercises.
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