La Grande Disc Herniations Can Go Away

“There’s a disc herniation in your spine.” doesn’t have to scare you. Conservative care helps lessen pain and even reduce the disc herniation. Surgery isn’t always required. Conservative care has been shown to reduce disc herniation and its associated back pain. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC uses gentle spinal manipulation as part of the overall La Grande chiropractic care treatment plan.

DISC HERNIATIONS RESORB, GO AWAY, WITH CONSERVATIVE CARE: 70.39% WITHIN 6 MONTHS

A recent research meta-analysis report, the top-level review of medical literature on a specific topic, detailed the spontaneous resorption of a lumbar disc herniation with conservative treatment. In 31 studies, the researchers found that the overall resorption rate was 70.39%. By type of disc, resorption rates varied from 13.33% to 87.77%. The frequency of resorption was higher for a ruptured, non-contained disc (fragment) than a contained disc. Resorption rates varied by country from 60.68% in China to 83.52% in Korea. (The US resorption rate was 61.66%.) The report concluded that the resorption process mainly occurred within 6 months of conservative treatment. (1) Another study regarding patient clinical outcomes in one treatment center were analyzed for response to treatment of giant lumbar disc herniations. 41% of these patients’ "giant lumbar" discs appeared on imaging to have resorbed within 6 months, 37% in 6-12 months, and 32% after a year. The timespan for resorption was 1 month to 8 years. 59% of those who underwent conservative care had more than 30% resorption. 25% had greater than 50% resorption. The authors of this study stated that as long as there is no sign of progressive neurological deficit or cauda equina syndrome, conservative care was favored since resorption was more probable with these disc protrusions that were in the spinal canal. (2) Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC concurs that in the absence of nerve injury and/or cauda equina symptoms, conservative treatment - like our gentle, safe chiropractic spinal manipulation - is effective. Starting with the initial, thorough examination of symptoms to the treatment at every visit, our La Grande back pain and neck pain patients with disc herniations often find relief and a decrease in their fear of their disc herniation and its impact on their life.

CONTACT Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr Coleman Cormier on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates his use of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management to help a patient with a large disc herniation.

Schedule your La Grande chiropractic appointment today. We’re here to lessen your fear of a disc herniation and help you realize back pain and neck pain relief!