Avoid Sciatica Surgery With Chiropractic

Dr. Groneck works with countless sciatica patients here in our Humble office, and quite a few of these patients were nervous that they might need surgery to alleviate their pain. The latest research reveals that many people don't require surgery for this common issue, and that chiropractic is more successful at solving sciatic nerve pain.

A common surgery for sciatica is microdiscectomy, and in a 2010 study, physicians looked at 80 patients with sciatica who were referred for this procedure.

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

Both groups improved; however, no apparent difference in results was reported one year post-treatment between the surgery group and the chiropractic group. Additionally, roughly 60 percent of the participating patients who could not find relief from any other treatment approach "benefited from spinal manipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention."

In other words, chiropractic provided the same positive advantages as surgery without needing to go through the higher amounts of surgery-based pain or suffer through drawn-out recovery times often associated with that particular treatment choice. Additionally, you also don't run the risks associated with surgical microdiscectomy, such as nerve root damage, bowel or bladder incontinence, bleeding, or infection.

Surgery should be the last resort for sciatica pain. If you live in Humble and you're experiencing back pain or sciatica, give Dr. Groneck a call today at (281) 540-7201. We'll help pinpoint the origin 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.