“You have to know where you came from to know where you are
going.”
It’s true for all of us individually,
familiarly, and professionally. It is true for
medicine – allopathic and alternative - too. It is true for the comprehension
of the disc and the spine it houses. Understanding
of Sitka back pain keeps evolving, and
one of the key milestones was rather new
in our human history. Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka discloses
past and current findings on the disc
and the back pain it produces as well as the
Sitka chiropractic care that reduces 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 new 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 assumed
to be a tumor. In 1930, a neurologist (T Alajouanine) and surgeon (D
Petit-Dutaillis) described 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 circulated the first report of surgically removing 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 fewer than 100 years ago that
the disc herniation was named a disc herniation and recognized
as such! Allopathy and alternative medicine like chiropractic have grown
to the challenge in those intervening years.
ALLOPATHY and ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
Allopathic medicine is usually centered
on the disease and tends to focus
on symptom-specific treatment (usually pharmacological or invasive) to get
rid of the cause of pain. Alternative medicine traditionally
centered on a whole-body approach and tends to concentrate on treatments that increase
the body’s ability to heal itself (herbal supplements, Reiki, chiropractic, Tai chi, acupuncture, etc.) to reduce pain. (3) Nowadays, integrative medicine is escalating in its valuing and use of the best of both.
CHIROPRACTIC TREATMENT FOR DISC HERNIATION
Chiropractic care is all-encompassing
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 easing. A new study points
out that horizontal traction was very effective
in producing a significant increase in
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. Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka specializes
in this treatment. Cox Technic is described as a non-thrust low
velocity variable amplitude spinal manipulation that manages low
back pain non-pharmacologically. It is evidence-based to
decrease pain in chronic low back pain patients. (5) It decreases
intradiscal pressure in the disc to as low as -192mmHg, opens the
spinal canal area by 28%, and enlarges disc height by 17%. (6)
Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka eases back pain due to disc herniation quite
effectively.
CONTACT Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka
Listen to this PODCAST
by Dr. Jake Bohnen on The Back
Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson. He presents a
case of a disc herniation he treated with Cox® Technic and reduced pain…and the
herniation on MRI!
Schedule a non-surgical Sitka chiropractic care
appointment with Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka today. Together, we will determine where you’ve been on your back pain journey
and make a course of correction and control for its
future with the most appropriate treatment possible.