Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka treats
Sitka neck pain patients due to cervical spine disc
herniations that cause arm pain radiculopathy. Non-surgical care
of arm pain radiculopathy eases Sitka neck pain and arm pain
non-surgically.
CERVICAL RADICULOPATHY
In setting up a treatment plan for for
cervical spine-related arm pain known as cervical radiculopathy, research guidelines report conservative
management as a first-line treatment option over surgery.
Clinically, cervical radiculopathy can present as motor
change, paresthesia, reflex change, numbness and/or sensory change. Researchers have been collaborating
to establish guidelines for its non-surgical management and treatment
at various stages of pain including acute, subacute, and
chronic. (1) Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka uses such guidelines in planning non-surgical treatment
for our Sitka chiropractic patients.
GUIDELINES FOR TREATING CERVICAL DISC HERNIATIONS
In presenting the non-surgical
guidelines, researchers explained the risk-benefit ratio for
surgical treatment of cervical radiculopathy as less favorable
than for non-surgical, conservative care. When studying the
care of cervical radiculopathy through its stages, the
non-surgical interventions’ guidelines shift from acute/more
passive care to more active, individualized, self-managed
care in the chronic phase. Specifically, for the acute
stage, multimodal management involving spinal manipulation, patient
education, exercise, and positioning that eases the
pain were valuable. For subacute cervical
radiculopathy, enhanced specific exercises, supervised motor
control motions and/or mobilization may be added. In the
chronic phase, patients may profit from general aerobic exercise
and strength training, postural instruction, and ergonomic assessment of
job-related activities, general aerobic exercise and
strength training, postural instruction, and ergonomic assessment of
job-related activities may be added}29}. (2) We know
that our neck and arm pain patients are ready for activities
like this that get them back to doing what
they want to do.
TIME AND THE CERVICAL DISC HERNIATION
Overall, in one systematic review study, 56.4%
of degenerative cervical radiculopathy patients - 39.1% of conservatively
treated patients and 60.5% of surgically treated patients – said
they had motor deficits before treatment. (3) A
spine surgeon described a case report of a patient who
was ready to undergo cervical spine discectomy/fusion surgery
for a C4-C5 disc herniation whose
disc resorbed on a confirming repeat MRI, making surgery needless.
The researcher acknowledged that more research was available
on lumbar disc herniations’ decreasing as seen on MRI by 34.7% to 95% over 6 to 17 months
and total resorption of the disc in 43% to 75% yet postulated
that cervical disc herniations were apt to act the same way. (4) Like the author,
Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka holds out hope for our cervical disc herniation and cervical
radiculopathy patients that surgery may not be required. Our
conservative Sitka chiropractic treatment may
well help healing.
CONTACT Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Umar Ellahie on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
illustrates cervical radiculopathy and its relieving care with
The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Sitka chiropractic
appointment now. Cervical radiculopathy and cervical disc
herniation sufferers have a pain-relieving partner at our
chiropractic practice.