Dr. Holland works with many sciatica patients here in our North St. Louis, MO office, and quite a few of these men and women were afraid that they might need surgery to treat their pain. The latest research shows that a large number of people don't need surgery for this prevalent issue, and that chiropractic is more successful at clearing up sciatic nerve pain.
A common surgery for sciatica is microdiscectomy, and in a 2010 study, physicians looked at 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 received surgical microdiscectomy and the second group received chiropractic care.
Both groups got better; however, no apparent difference in outcome was reported one year post-treatment between the surgery group and the chiropractic group. Additionally, about 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."
Simply put, chiropractic delivered the same positive benefits as surgery without needing to endure the increased levels of surgery-based pain or suffer through drawn-out recovery times often affiliated with that specific treatment method. Plus, 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 North St. Louis, MO and you're being affected by back pain or sciatica, give Dr. Holland a call today at (314) 588-9100. We'll help determine the origin of your pain and work hard to get you relief.
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