Avoid Sciatica Surgery With Chiropractic

Dr. Marsh, our osteopathic medical physician works with many sciatica patients here in our West New York office, and many of these individuals were nervous that they might require surgery to eliminate their pain. The most recent research indicates that many people don't need surgery for this common problem, and that chiropractic, a service we offer in our office is more effective at solving sciatic nerve pain.

A typical surgery for sciatica is microdiscectomy, and in a 2010 study, specialists 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 was to receive surgical microdiscectomy and the second group received chiropractic care.

Both groups improved; however, no apparent difference in outcome was reported one year post-treatment between either group. In addition, roughly sixty percent of the participating patients who could not find assistance from any other treatment approach "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 greater levels of surgery-based pain or suffer through drawn-out recovery times often associated with that specific treatment method. Plus, you also don't run the risks linked to surgical microdiscectomy, including nerve root damage, bowel or bladder incontinence, bleeding, or infection.

Surgery should be the last resort for sciatica pain. If you live in West New York and you're experiencing back pain or sciatica, give Dr. Marsh a call today at (201) 869-0830. We'll help pinpoint the source 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.