About 1% of America at any one point in time has a herniated disc. About a 4th of these folks with back pain have a herniated disc and over 90% of these are situated in the lower back.
What is the natural history of a herniated disc? Do patients always need surgery, or can they get by non-operatively with various pain management options? Surgery is not always necessary for a herniated disc. There are certain instances where surgery is highly recommended, such as if a patient is experiencing an increased neurologic deficit from where the herniated disc is pushing on the nerve root.
For example if the individual has a herniated disc at the L4-05 area, the elf of nor root is typically being pinched. This is vital to being able to lift up the foot. So if it is bad enough an individual may not be able to lift up the foot and that is called a foot drop. If that is present for a long time it may be that despite a technically perfect surgery at some point the foot drop will not get better. Therefore having surgery within a month or so is typically indicated.
Lifetime's doctors are able to prescribe painkillers or muscle relaxants or have the individual undergo a few epidural steroid shots. Along with chiropractic treatment and physical therapy or maybe spinal decompression therapy the individual can probably avoid surgery and get back to being more functional. Over 90% of the time conventional conservative treatments are effective for a herniated disc where sciatica is being experienced.
Injections with epidural steroids work about 70 to 80% of the time well. They do not fix the problem herniated disc, but they may provide enough pain relief while the body takes care of getting rid of the piece of disc that is pushing on the nerve root word is not supposed to be. The literature shows that surgery for a herniated disc at the one-year point works about appoximately as well as nonsurgical treatment.
So unless it is an emergency, patients who are having sciatica from a disc herniation should undergo nonoperative treatment initially. If the person hs bowel or bladder dysfunction that is in effect an emergency and should be treated surgically right away.
As mentioned, if the patient has a neurologic deficit or an increasing neurologic deficit, then surgery may be a good idea if relief is not seen sooner rather than later. But if it is simply pain that the patient is experiencing, then patients should treat the decision as a quality of life decision and not rush into surgery if nonoperative pain treatments are giving significant enough relief.
What is the natural history of a herniated disc? Do patients always need surgery, or can they get by non-operatively with various pain management options? Surgery is not always necessary for a herniated disc. There are certain instances where surgery is highly recommended, such as if a patient is experiencing an increased neurologic deficit from where the herniated disc is pushing on the nerve root.
For example if the individual has a herniated disc at the L4-05 area, the elf of nor root is typically being pinched. This is vital to being able to lift up the foot. So if it is bad enough an individual may not be able to lift up the foot and that is called a foot drop. If that is present for a long time it may be that despite a technically perfect surgery at some point the foot drop will not get better. Therefore having surgery within a month or so is typically indicated.
Lifetime's doctors are able to prescribe painkillers or muscle relaxants or have the individual undergo a few epidural steroid shots. Along with chiropractic treatment and physical therapy or maybe spinal decompression therapy the individual can probably avoid surgery and get back to being more functional. Over 90% of the time conventional conservative treatments are effective for a herniated disc where sciatica is being experienced.
Injections with epidural steroids work about 70 to 80% of the time well. They do not fix the problem herniated disc, but they may provide enough pain relief while the body takes care of getting rid of the piece of disc that is pushing on the nerve root word is not supposed to be. The literature shows that surgery for a herniated disc at the one-year point works about appoximately as well as nonsurgical treatment.
So unless it is an emergency, patients who are having sciatica from a disc herniation should undergo nonoperative treatment initially. If the person hs bowel or bladder dysfunction that is in effect an emergency and should be treated surgically right away.
As mentioned, if the patient has a neurologic deficit or an increasing neurologic deficit, then surgery may be a good idea if relief is not seen sooner rather than later. But if it is simply pain that the patient is experiencing, then patients should treat the decision as a quality of life decision and not rush into surgery if nonoperative pain treatments are giving significant enough relief.
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Want to find out more about pain doctors in Arizona, then visit Preferred Pain Center's site on how to choose the best Mesa chiropractor for your needs.
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