Satterwhite Chiropractic Cares for Cervical Disc Herniations and Related Radiculopathy
Satterwhite Chiropractic welcomes Oxford neck pain patients with cervical spine disc herniations that trigger arm pain radiculopathy. Non-surgical care of arm pain radiculopathy helps Oxford neck pain and arm pain sufferers experience some relief without surgery.
CERVICAL RADICULOPATHY
In managing for cervical spine-related arm pain (aka cervical radiculopathy), research guidelines describe conservative management as a first-line treatment alternative over surgery. Clinically, cervical radiculopathy can pose 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 different stages of pain including acute, subacute, and chronic. (1) Satterwhite Chiropractic considers such guidelines in planning non-surgical treatment for our Oxford chiropractic patients.
GUIDELINES FOR TREATING CERVICAL DISC HERNIATIONS
In presenting the non-surgical guidelines, researchers described 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 more passive care in the acute phase to chronic/more active, individualized, self-managed care. Specifically, for the acute stage, multimodal management including spinal manipulation, patient education, exercise, and positioning that eases the pain were valuable. For subacute cervical radiculopathy, increased specific exercises, supervised motor control motions and/or mobilization may be incorporated. 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 incorporated}29}. (2) We find that our neck and arm pain patients appreciate activities like this that allow them to return 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 prior to treatment. (3) A spine surgeon described a case report of a patient headed for cervical spine discectomy/fusion surgery for a C4-C5 disc herniation whose disc resorbed on a confirming repeat MRI, making surgery needless. The researcher conceded that more research was accessible on the decrease of lumbar disc herniations 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 do the same. (4) Like the author, Satterwhite Chiropractic holds out hope for our cervical disc herniation and cervical radiculopathy patients that surgery may not be necessary. Our conservative Oxford chiropractic treatment will quite possibly help in relieving the symptoms and pain.
CONTACT Satterwhite Chiropractic
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.
Make your Oxford chiropractic appointment soon. Cervical radiculopathy and cervical disc herniation sufferers experience a pain-relieving partner at our chiropractic practice.
