I had a client come to me recently with severe back pain. I thought, “Great! I can’t wait to help this Client!” I still feel this way, but I realized his back pain symptoms were quite severe and a cause for further investigation into what was going on. As it appeared, this particular client is presenting with a herniated disc bulge within the lumbar region of his spine.
What does a herniated disc look like? Well, your spine is a stack of blocks with a silicone cushion and a little water balloon in the middle of the donut between the blocks (as simple as I can explain it). When the balloon or silicone donut manages to squeeze its way out to one side of the joint, like when you blow a bubble with your gum, that is a herniation and it can cause excruciating discomfort. Symptoms can include numbness, tingling, heat, or sharp shooting pain either local or radiating pain down into the legs or loss of leg control.
How do we address this kind of injury? Refer out to your Doctor to ensure the necessary course of action is addressed with ease. However, an Osteopathic avenue of manual therapy includes decompression, realignment, and strengthening in the areas of instability along with time for the body to heal. Manual Osteopaths have great influence on assessing and realigning the body to facilitate healing without a lot of stress on the tissue; little-to-no additional imaging; and a non-invasive hands-on approach. Manipulations are very gentle, mild, have very few contraindications or negative outcomes, and are appropriate for most anyone. Should your herniation be deemed necessary for surgery, as demonstrated in nationwide numbers from K. Chi Heon et al. ¹, showing an increase of nearly 35% in 5 years, you may want to look for alternative therapies to avoid the long, invasive and likely painful process.
Does this story sound familiar? Reach out to me at Evolution Therapy & Fitness today and we can facilitate your healing journey seamlessly.
References:
Kim, Chi Heon MD, PhD∗,†,‡,§; Chung, Chun Kee MD, PhD∗,†,‡,§,¶; Kim, Myo Jeong MS||; Choi, Yunhee PhD∗∗; Kim, Min-Jung MS∗∗; Hahn, Seokyung PhD††; Shin, Sukyoun PhD‡‡; Jong, Jong-myung MD∗,†,‡,§; Lee, Jun Ho MD, PhD§§. Increased Volume of Lumbar Surgeries for Herniated Intervertebral Disc Disease and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis: A Nationwide Cohort Study. SPINE 43(8):p 585-593, April 15, 2018. | DOI: 10.1097/BRS.0000000000002473 https://journals.lww.com/spinejournal/abstract/2018/04150/increased_volume_of_lumbar_surgeries_for_herniated.15.aspx