Treatments for Disks
A whole host of things can go wrong with a vertebral disk over a lifetime. A traumatic injury can crush or misplace a disk. An excessive pulling or lifting accident at home or on the job can force a disk out of position. And for some of us, simply getting older can cause a disk to deteriorate. This is usually called degenerative disk disease.
The vast majority of disk injuries occur in the lower back or lumbar region. When a damaged lumbar disk presses on a nerve root, it can cause radiating pain, numbness and weakness in other areas of the body, including the buttocks, leg, ankles and toes. Ironically, in many cases, a person with a herniated disk will not feel back or neck pain.
Cervical (neck) disks that have herniated can cause radiating pain and numbness down an arm and into the wrist and hand. Other types of symptoms include shoulder pain and numbness, as well as muscle and reflex weakness.
Chiropractic care entails a conservative, nonsurgical approach to treating disk injuries and other disk-related problems, and is often a course of treatment prior to any surgery, if recommended by a primary care physician or surgeon. And in other cases, disk injuries may heal themselves without any intervention.
Before undertaking any course of chiropractic treatment for a disk problem or injury, patients are thoroughly examined. This examination includes such things as analysis of posture, limb measurements, and pelvic balance, gait and reflex analyses. It is important to know whether the disk problem is a result of an injury or disease. If more information is needed, a diagnostic test, such as an MRI or X-ray, may be required to accurately pinpoint the source of the problem.
Treatments may include spinal adjustment or manipulation, and therapies such as electrotherapy, cold laser therapy, nonsurgical spinal decompression and ice/heat therapy.
