“You have to know where you came from to know where you are
going.”
It’s true for all of us individually,
domestically, and professionally. It is true for
medicine – allopathic and alternative - too. It is true for the comprehension
of the disc and the spine it houses. Awareness
of Brooks back pain continues to evolve, and
one of the key milestones was rather recent
in our human history. Soft Health and Healing Clinic discloses
past and current findings on the disc
and the back pain it produces as well as the
Brooks chiropractic care that reduces that back
pain.
HISTORY OF THE DISC HERNIATION
The understanding of disc herniation as a
compressive force on spinal nerves causing back pain and leg
pain is a relatively new wonder. Keep
in mind that the spine changes as it ages. The shape
of the disc and the composition of it tissue changes. The center part of the disc,
nucleus pulposus, changes and gets smaller. (1) We know
differently today, but in 1909, the disc herniation was assumed
to be a tumor. In 1930, a neurologist (T Alajouanine) and surgeon (D
Petit-Dutaillis) explained their surgical experiences with disc
herniations that were initially studied by a pathologist
named CG Schmorl. But it was not until 1934 when WJ Mixter and JS
Barr circulated the first report of surgically taking out disc herniations in 19 patients. (2) (Unless it is
published, it didn’t happen…and you don’t get credit
for it!) So it was fewer than 100 years ago that
the disc herniation was named a disc herniation and identified
as such! Allopathy and alternative medicine like chiropractic have risen
to the challenge in those intervening years.
ALLOPATHY and ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
Allopathic medicine is usually centered
on the disease and tends to focus
on symptom-specific treatment (usually pharmacological or invasive) to get
rid of the cause of pain. Alternative medicine usually
centered on a whole-body approach and tends to focus on treatments that stimulate
the body’s capability to heal itself (herbal supplements, Reiki, chiropractic, Tai chi, acupuncture, etc.) to decrease pain. (3) Today, integrative medicine is escalating in its valuing and utilization of the best of both.
CHIROPRACTIC TREATMENT FOR DISC HERNIATION
Chiropractic care is comprehensive
care for spine pain conditions. For the disc herniation resulting in
low back pain, neck pain, leg pain and/or arm pain, gentle flexion distraction
spinal manipulation is easing. A new study points
out that horizontal traction was quite effective
in producing a significant enlargement of
average lumbar spine disc height and decrease in lumbar
lordosis. (4) Such is available with the Cox Technic System of Spinal Pain
Management causing long-y axis distraction. Soft Health and Healing Clinic specializes
in this treatment. Cox Technic is described as a non-thrust low
velocity variable amplitude spinal manipulation that takes care of low
back pain non-pharmacologically. It is evidence-based to
decrease pain in chronic low back pain patients. (5) It reduces
intradiscal pressure in the disc to as low as -192mmHg, widens the
spinal canal area by 28%, and increases disc height by 17%. (6)
Soft Health and Healing Clinic relieves back pain due to disc herniation very
effectively.
CONTACT Soft Health and Healing Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST
by Dr. Jake Bohnen on The Back
Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson. He discusses a
case of a disc herniation he treated with Cox® Technic and reduced pain…and the
herniation on MRI!
Schedule a non-surgical Brooks chiropractic care
appointment with Soft Health and Healing Clinic today. Together, we will figure
out where you’ve been on your back pain journey
and make a path of correction and control for its
future with the most suitable treatment possible.