Herniated disc: chiropractic reduces the risk of surgery
Chiropractic spinal manipulation and lumbar discectomy (surgery) are both used to treat herniated discs lumbar (HLD) and lumbosacral radiculopathies (LSR), however, little research has examined the relationship between these therapies. A new American study highlights the effectiveness of chiropractic in the management of herniated discs, with the aim of reducing the need for surgery.
A study to understand the effects of chiropractic care
The researchers first hypothesized that adults receiving chiropractic treatment for newly diagnosed lumbar disc herniation or lumbosacral radiculopathy would be less likely to undergo lumbar discectomy than those receiving other care.
In this retrospective cohort study, researchers selected adult patients, aged 18 to 45, from a medical record of over 101 million patients between 2012 and 2022.
From this file emerged 5785 patients who received spinal manipulation by a chiropractor, compared with 5785 patients who received other treatments to relieve herniated lumbar discs or lumbosacral radiculopathy.
Chiropractic as a first-line treatment to reduce the need for surgery
After analyzing the results of both groups, the study researchers found that the group that received chiropractic treatment for their herniated disc or lumbosacral radiculopathy were less likely to undergo surgery compared to the group that did not.
The use of a discectomy was significantly less frequent for patients who had undergone chiropractic treatment, whether after one or two years.
After one year's follow-up, 1.1% of chiropractic patients had undergone discectomy, compared with 2.2% of patients who had undergone another type of treatment. At the end of the second year of follow-up, 1.9% of chiropractic patients had undergone a discectomy, compared with 2.4% of patients who had undergone another type of treatment.
Your chiropractor to relieve herniated discs. Chiropractic treatment of herniated discs, together with rehabilitation exercises recommended by your chiropractor, will help to bring about remission.
However, discs are organs with very little vascularity. The hernia never completely resolves itself. Chiropractors use joint manipulation and mobilization to limit pressure on the disc and promote vascularization. The right treatment is the one that renders the patient's hernia asymptomatic, i.e. the hernia is no longer painful.
