Herniated Disc Therapy
Herniated disc therapy is a huge industry in the
back care
establishment. Herniated discs are one of the most commonly diagnosed of all spinal conditions. Although most
herniated discs
are not symptomatic, they are still one of the prime conditions on which
chronic back pain
is often blamed. In deciding on a proper therapy modality for your herniated disc pain, it is important to know certain facts about disc conditions and what to expect from any given treatment.Statistics clearly support the idea that treatment is not needed for most disc herniations. In fact, some studies report that even when a patient has severe pain, they may recover better by not seeking any professional care. While this may be so, it is always advised to fully understand the nature of your specific spinal disc issue and know whether it falls into the typical range of normal and expected degeneration or the minority of truly problematic concerns. Then, it will be much easier to decide which treatment, if any, is best suited for your specific case.
Types of Herniated Disc Therapy
There are 2 main types of
herniated disc treatment;
those which only offer symptomatic relief and those which lead to a true cure for the underlying condition.
Symptomatic back pain treatment
is not good medicine, nor proper science. It may perpetuate the pain and suffering, keeping patients captive in longterm care regimens. The typical treatments used to treat herniated disc pain without curing the actual condition include:
Chiropractic
(may rarely provide a cure)
Massage
Physical therapy
Pain management drugs
Other therapy options might lead to a cure for the pain by correcting the actual anatomical defect:
Back surgery
Spinal decompression
For full details on all the possible options for finding herniated disc relief, please visit my
back pain treatments
resource section to read about every one of your professional care options.
Problems with Herniated Disc Therapy
Many patients have disc pain that is
treatment resistant.
It defies all efforts to silence it with any number of chosen therapy options. Unfortunately, this is extremely common and is one of the reasons why herniated discs have such a fearsome reputation. The main reason for this occurrence is a
misdiagnosis
of the actual cause of pain. Herniated discs may or may not be painful when they first occur, but are rarely responsible for chronic back pain conditions. Patients who have unresolved pain syndromes blamed on a herniated disc are usually actually suffering from some other injurious, disease or nonstructural causative process. In these circumstances, the herniated disc exists, but is an innocent and completely coincidental
scapegoat
for the symptomatic expression.
Recommendation on Herniated Disc Therapy
The most important factor in deciding on a proper method of treating your herniated discs is achieving an accurate diagnosis. If the disc is not the real cause of the symptoms, then you are wasting your time with any treatment designed to target the scapegoat pathology. This is the reason why so many patients fail in their quest for true
back pain relief.
They bounce from one treatment to another, but continue to hold on to an incorrect diagnosis. If you know for sure that your pain is a direct result of a disc problem, try to find a solution that will work to resolve the anatomical issues causing pain. Spinal decompression is a good nonsurgical method of care for some disc issues and surgery remains the industry standard for relieving many suspected sources of suffering. Just remember that the surgical path is fraught with risks and demonstrates a high likelihood of postoperative complications. Even when all goes ideally, disc herniations still demonstrate the absolutely worst curative results, compared to any other spinal abnormality, when treated surgically. Be careful!
Herniated Disc Therapy to Back Pain
5/23/08 Revised 12/26/11
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