Chiropractic Spinal Adjustments Considered Effective and Less Expensive Than Epidural during Treatment of Herniated Disc Pain

Herniated discs have bothered a number of patients that have been treated in our Coraopolis office. Fortunately, Moon Chiropractic has assisted many of them recover speedily and more completely. Herniated discs, also known as "slipped discs", can be treated with a handful of remedies.

If you are feeling irritation caused by a herniated disc, then you are likely wondering which option will provide the best outcome for you. To support you in settling that question, let's inspect two of the most commonly employed therapies: chiropractic/manipulative therapy and epidural.

Study Analyzing Outcomes from Spinal Manipulative Therapy (SMT) and Nerve Root Injections (NRI)

A group of researchers from Switzerland compared 102 patients, every one of them had chronically herniated discs confirmed by medical imaging. Every patient picked had already received 90 days of treatment via other available remedies without achieving success.

The body of cohorts was split into two groups. The first group of the patients were treated with high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulation treatment (chiropractic adjustments). The remaining half of individuals were given nerve root injections (epidural).

The researchers obtained data regarding the pain levels of every cohort in advance of the care administered during the research. Later, one month after the receiving of treatment, patients rated their disc herniation pain on the same scale as previously. The difference between the two ratings was used to calculate how effective the treatment may have been for remediating pain.

What did the study uncover about spinal manipulations versus epidural injections?

More than 76% of the participants who were administered chiropractic adjustments reported an improvement in their pain. On the other side, less than 63 percent of the participants who engaged in epidurals reported a minimization in pain. These scores offer that chiropractic treatment could possibly be more successful when looking to remediate herniated disc pain.

And, that is not everything. Beyond giving a higher count of cohorts highly desired reduction in pain, researchers also determined that spinal manipulation was more cost-effective. The nerve root injection treatments cost about $730 for a single patient. The chiropractic treatment cost just under $560 for the same timespan. This type of savings may surely assist with anyone’s health care expenses. Saving money can make it more conceivable to pursue care for your disc herniation pain without extra burden.

If you are interested in a higher probability of success and lower costs associated with your herniated disc treatment, give Moon Chiropractic a call today at (724) 513-0521 to schedule an appointment.

Reference

Peterson, CK et al. (2013, May). Symptomatic magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed lumbar disk herniation patients: a comparative effectiveness prospective observational study of 2 age-and sex-matched cohorts treated with either high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulative therapy or image-guided lumbar nerve root injections. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 36(4), 218-225, doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2013.04.005