Healthy News January 2024 Disc Size Doesnt Necessarily Matter & 4 Ways To Ease Chronic Pain

Now there’s 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 aren’t! 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 envelops 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 lots of pain if chemical irritation is part of the problem. A huge disc protrusion may not produce pain at all if it does not contact a spinal nerve. (1-7) A 2023 published study just concluded that the size of a disc protrusion did not show a noteworthy relationship to pain and function. (8) If you or a loved one or friend is starting 2024 with Sitka back pain with or without sciatic leg pain or neck pain with or without arm pain radiculopathy, come visit Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka for some Sitka 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.              

 

Sitka CHIROPRACTIC TIP OF THE MONTH: 4 Ways to Ease Chronic Pain In 2024

As researchers and healthcare professionals try to establish practice guidelines (ex: WHO) in managing chronic pain (back, neck, etc.), they’re studying influencing factors that chronic pain sufferers and their caregivers ought to address for optimal clinical outcomes:

1. Understand the condition. A clear grasp of the chronic primary low back pain condition via education/advice was associated with beneficial developments in pain, function, quality of life, and psychological outcomes. (9)
2. Consider emotional influences. Adverse childhood events were documented to be significantly related to chronic pain and pain-related disability as an adult. (10)
3. Undergo spinal manipulation. A study of nonpharmacological pain management methods used by Medicare patients reported that manipulative therapies, mainly chiropractic, have been the most extensively studied methods. (11) Cox® Technic flexion-distraction - as we use in our chiropractic practice – helped a 67-year-old veteran who suffered with chronic low back pain and intermittent lower extremity pain for many decades get overall improvement in his condition, reduce use of pain medication, and increase mobility after 4 sessions in just a short 4-week period. (12)
4. Exercise. Structured exercise programs were documented to reduce pain and functional limitation in chronic low back pain patients. (13)

Make 2024 your year for pain relief! Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka is excited to be your Sitka chiropractic partner in this project. See you soon!

Schedule your Sitka chiropractic appointment today!