Avoid Sciatica Surgery With Chiropractic

Dr. Tolson works with many sciatica patients here in our Mt Sterling office, and many of these individuals were worried that they might require surgery to treat their pain. The latest research indicates that many people don't need surgery for this common problem, and that chiropractic is more beneficial at resolving sciatic nerve pain.

A popular surgery for sciatica is microdiscectomy, and in a 2010 study, researchers looked at 80 patients with sciatica who were referred for this operation.

Forty patients were then randomly placed in one of two groups. The first group received surgical microdiscectomy and the second group received chiropractic care.

Both groups got better; however, no apparent difference in results was recorded one year post-treatment between the surgery group and the chiropractic group. Furthermore, around sixty percent of the participating subjects who could not find pain relief from any other treatment approach "benefited from spinal manipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention."

Put another way, chiropractic delivered the same positive advantages as surgery without having to go through the increased amounts of surgery-based pain or suffer through drawn-out recovery times often affiliated with that type of treatment method. Plus, you also don't run the risks affiliated with surgical microdiscectomy, which includes nerve root damage, bowel or bladder incontinence, bleeding, or infection.

Surgery should be the last option for sciatica pain. If you live in Mt Sterling and you're experiencing back pain or sciatica, give Dr. Tolson a call today at (859) 499-1009. We'll help pinpoint the start of your pain and work hard to get you relief.

References

• McMorland, G et al. Manipulation or microdiskectomy for sciatica? A prospective randomized clinical study. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2010;33(8):576-584.
• Solberg TK, Nygaard OP, Sjaavik K, Hofoss D, Ingebrigtsen T. The risk of "getting worse" after lumbar microdiscectomy. European Spine Journal 2005;14(1):49-54.