Avoid Sciatica Surgery With Chiropractic

Dr. John Nowak works with many sciatica patients here in our South Buffalo office, and many of these men and women were worried that they might need surgery to relieve their pain. The most recent research reveals that a large number of people don't need surgery for this widespread problem, and that chiropractic is more beneficial at solving sciatic nerve pain.

A common surgery for sciatica is microdiscectomy, and in a 2010 study, researchers looked at 80 women and men 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 got better; however, no noticeable difference in results was reported one year post-treatment between the surgery group and the chiropractic group. Furthermore, about 60% of the participating subjects who could not find pain relief from any other treatment method "benefited from spinal manipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention."

In other words, chiropractic offered the same positive benefits as surgery without having to undergo the increased levels of surgery-based pain or suffer through extended recovery times often associated with that specific treatment method. Additionally, you also don't run the risks linked to surgical microdiscectomy, such as nerve root damage, bowel or bladder incontinence, bleeding, or infection.

Surgery should be the last option for sciatica pain. If you live in South Buffalo and you're experiencing back pain or sciatica, give Dr. John Nowak a call today at (716) 825-4121. 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.