Healthy News January 2024 Disc Size Doesnt Necessarily Matter & 4 Ways To Ease Chronic Pain

Now there is a novel idea for the start of a new year amidst all the talk of new year’s talk of dieting to downsize! With back pain and neck pain, a little disc is not necessarily pain-free. Surprised? If you have a small disc and pain, you are not! What does matter is (1) how much mechanical pressure the disc protrusion is placing on the nerve root and/or (2) how much chemical irritation is involved if an extruded disc’s inner gel-like material has left the anular fibers that surround it and now encircles the spinal nerve(s) which has (have) never come in contact with each other before. Nerves hurt when this new chemical irritant comes in! A tiny extruded disc can produce a great amount of pain if chemical irritation is part of the problem. A huge disc protrusion may not produce pain at all if it does not contact a spinal nerve. (1-7) A 2023 published study just concluded that the size of a disc protrusion did not show a significant relationship to pain and function. (8) If you or a loved one or friend is beginning 2024 with Toronto back pain with or without sciatic leg pain or neck pain with or without arm pain radiculopathy, come visit Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre for some Toronto pain relief with gentle, safe chiropractic Cox® Technic care!

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Timothy Gagan on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson about use of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for a patient suffering with back and leg pain because of a disc herniation.              

 

Toronto CHIROPRACTIC TIP OF THE MONTH: 4 Ways to Ease Chronic Pain In 2024

As researchers and healthcare professionals work toward establishing practice guidelines (ex: WHO) in managing chronic pain (back, neck, etc.), they’re studying influencing factors that chronic pain sufferers and their caregivers need to address for optimal clinical outcomes:

1. Understand the condition. A clear understanding of the chronic primary low back pain condition via education/advice was related to improvements in pain, function, quality of life, and psychological outcomes. (9)
2. Consider emotional influences. Adverse childhood events were documented to be significantly related to chronic pain and pain-related disability as an adult. (10)
3. Undergo spinal manipulation. A review of nonpharmacological pain management approaches utilized by Medicare patients found that manipulative therapies, mainly chiropractic, have been the most widely studied approaches. (11) Cox® Technic flexion-distraction - as we use in our chiropractic practice – benefitted a 67-year-old veteran who experienced chronic low back pain and intermittent lower extremity pain for several decades realize overall improvement in his condition, decrease use of pain medication, and increase mobility after 4 sessions in just a short 4-week period. (12)
4. Exercise. Structured exercise programs were shown to reduce pain and functional limitation in chronic low back pain patients. (13)

Make 2024 your year for pain relief! Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre is excited to be your Toronto chiropractic partner in this project. See you soon!

Make your Toronto chiropractic appointment today!