The question is this: Are patients who receive surgical intervention for lumbar herniated discs better off than those who seek conservative treatments such as chiropractic, physical therapy etc?
Dr David Perna DC, CCSP, CCEP, our Manhatten chiropractor explained on a video a while ago that this may not be the case.
Quoting a study by what was previously known as the British Medical Journal, now the BMJ, a study lasting 2 years covered the lifestyle fortunes of 370 patients who were suffering sciatic pain from herniated disc problems.
About half had surgery for their problems with the remainder utilizing non invasive conservative approaches such as physical therapy, chiropractic and the like.
After two years had passed, based on the study, the researchers concluded that there were no benefits to surgery versus conservative care. The lifestyle outcomes of the patients who sought conservative care was largely the same as those who had surgery.
What does this tell us?
Firstly, it is actually good news for several reasons. Firstly, conservative care is much cheaper than surgery. Secondly, conservative care does not require the same invasive techniques that surgery requires. Moreover, there is minimal recovery time in conservative care compared to surgery. And thirdly, conservative care does not carry the same risks that surgery does with regards anesthesia and pain killing drugs that are required afterwards.
So while many people do think surgery is the ultimate fix, it actually isn’t. In fact, a patient will still be required to undertake some kind of physical therapy after surgery anyway, and the study found that it was no more effective than conservative care.
So in conclusion, it is clear in the case of lumbar herniated disc that conservative care is the better way to go. It is cheaper, non invasive, does not require the use of drugs, and there are also plenty of options to choose from in this form of care.
Chiropractic care is one of the best ways to relieve back pain, and along with physical therapy, cold laser therapy and other treatments that are available at Back & Body in New York, the question of surgery should never crop up.
For those people who are in chronic pain though, and are unable to find permanent relief even through medication, conservative therapies, and are seriously considering surgery, there is something called Manipulation Under Anesthesia which is very successful in reducing a patients pain levels and restoring proper motion. Even though it does involve putting the patient to sleep for 30 minutes or so it is still non invasive. Essentially the doctor performs a more aggressive adjustment on the patient which is said to be the equivalent of a dozen physical therapy treatments. This is also something we perform at Back & Body NY and we can discuss to see if you qualify for this if you suffer chronic pain. This is often seen as a last resort, but it has helped many patients.
Remember, if you are struggling and cannot get relief, make an appointment to see us. Simply make an appointment online and let us help you https://backandbodyny.com/book-appointment/
You can view the accompanying video to this here on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JacBbX-COXg
