Lumbar Disc Prolapse, Bulge, Sciatica, Back Surgery
In my years of practice and seeing countless cases with
signs of disc disease (leg pain, numbness, tingling or
weakness), only a few have gone to surgery. Research
supports this finding.
Chiropractors are trained to detect possible surgical
cases. All these cases had tried chiropractic and given it
time to help them. Unfortunately sometimes the piece of
disc breaks off, enters the spinal canal or directly
impinges the nerve(s) involved, the limitations of healing
naturally are inevitable.
Most back pain patients must be warned of the possible need
for consultation with a neurologist or orthopedic surgeon,
but more often they should be reassured that over 90% of
problems can be helped without surgery.
There are important warning signs for surgical emergencies,
but only then should the patient be told that surgery is
actually inevitable. These patients can be safely monitored
and managed under chiropractic care.
This goes to show that chiropractic is safe, even when the
most worrying back pain strikes.
In my opinion, patients who go to surgery do well when at
least they try chiropractic (and all else) for back pain
and leg pain associated with sciatica, and then go to
surgery when all else fails. Over the years, my patients
who went to surgery, often come back for maintenance of the
rest of the spine.
Note well:
Then neck is also critical in cases of low back pain. I
never check a low back without also checking and correcting
a neck problem that also may exist.
