Chiropractic Care Found Effective and Less Expensive Than Epidural for Herniated Disc Discomfort

Herniated discs have bothered many clients that have come to our Tumwater office. Fortunately, Dr. Harrell has helped a lot of them heal quickly and more effectively. Herniated discs, or "slipped discs", can be treated with a handful of remedies.

If you are suffering with irritation because of a herniated disc, then you are likely querying which choice will work best for you. To support you in finding an answer to that search, let's look at two of the most commonly selected treatments: chiropractic and epidural injections.

A Study Observed Improvements from Spinal Manipulative Therapy (SMT) and Nerve Root Injections (NRI)

A body of researchers compared 102 individuals, every one of them had chronically herniated discs confirmed by medical imaging. Any patient picked had previously undergone 90 days of care via other accessible treatment options without achieving satisfaction.

The group of cohorts was split into two groups. The first half of the participants were assigned to receive high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulation treatment (chiropractic adjustments). The rest of people in the study were provided nerve root injections (epidural).

The researchers gathered scores about the pain levels of each individual prior to the treatment provided at the time of the research. Then, one month following the receiving of treatment, patients reported their disc herniation pain on the same range as previously. The difference between the two grades was used to determine how effective the intervention was for improving pain.

What did the study find about spinal adjustments versus nerve root injections?

Over 76 percent of the individuals who were administered chiropractic adjustments scored a reduction in their discomfort. On the other hand, less than 63% of the cohorts who received epidurals expressed a minimization in pain. The results imply that chiropractic treatment could possibly be more effective when looking to remediate herniated disc discomfort.

And, that isn't everything. In addition to giving a greater amount of cohorts highly desired reduction in pain, researchers also uncovered that chiropractic treatment was less expensive. The epidural treatments were roughly $730 for each individual. Chiropractic treatment ran less than $560 for the same period of time. This amount of savings may surely assist with your budget. Saving money can make it feasible to look for treatment for your disc herniation pain without added anxiety.

If you would like a better chance of success and lesser expenses associated with your herniated disc treatment, give Dr. Harrell a call today at (360) 489-0635 to schedule an appointment.

Reference

Peterson, CK et al. (2013, May). Symptomatic magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed lumbar disk herniation patients: a comparative effectiveness prospective observational study of 2 age-and sex-matched cohorts treated with either high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulative therapy or image-guided lumbar nerve root injections. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 36(4), 218-225, doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2013.04.005