Avoid Sciatica Surgery With Chiropractic

Dr. Valente works with countless sciatica patients here in our New York office, and many of these men and women were nervous that they might require surgery to relieve their pain. The most recent research indicates that a large number of people don't need surgery for this widespread issue, and that chiropractic is more successful at clearing up sciatic nerve pain.

A popular surgery for sciatica is microdiscectomy, and in a 2010 study, physicians examined 80 women and men with sciatica who were referred for this procedure.

Forty patients were then randomly sorted into one of two groups. The first group was to receive surgical microdiscectomy and the second group received chiropractic care.

Both groups got better; however, no noticeable difference in outcome was reported one year post-treatment between the surgery group and the chiropractic group. In addition, roughly sixty percent of the participating patients who could not find relief from any other treatment method "benefited from spinal manipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention."

Put another way, chiropractic provided the same positive advantages as surgery without having to endure the increased amounts of surgery-based pain or suffer through drawn-out recovery times often affiliated with that specific treatment choice. Additionally, you also don't run the risks associated with surgical microdiscectomy, including nerve root damage, bowel or bladder incontinence, bleeding, or infection.

Surgery should be the last option for sciatica pain. If you live in New York and you're being affected by back pain or sciatica, give Dr. Valente a call today at (917) 338-7917. We'll help identify 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.