"Study Shows Herniated Discs Do Heal
In a previous article we saw a number of clinical studies that indicated that herniated discs were not the major cause of pain we once thought they were. [1] And, while that’s great news, it still doesn’t dismiss the fact that we need to do something about them. After all, just because they may not be painful, that doesn’t mean they aren’t a degenerative condition.
Fortunately, there have been a number of major breakthroughs along those lines starting a few years back when two doctors set out to test a theory. A theory that is very near and dear to us here at Rebuild Your Back as you’ll see in a moment.
They decided to test their theory on 24 consecutive patients with cervical disc herniations. All the patients were diagnosed via MRI to have disc herniations greater than 4mm. All complained of arm pain and “the majority had neurological deficits,” which means there was serious nerve impingement and they were experiencing things like numbness and tingling in their arms, hands and shoulders.
What Was different About This Study
What makes this study particularly interesting for us is that the doctors decided to treat their patients with exercise instead of surgery. Which is pretty surprising when you consider that, based on their symptoms, these patients were prime surgical candidates.
I don’t think I can overstress that point. These were not just people with ordinary neck pain and minor disc bulges. This study was conducted on people who fell into the one to two percent range for whom surgery would typically be recommended. Which makes the results that much more exciting when we learn that “22 of the 24 had good or excellent outcomes” and “19 of 22 returned to work at the same job.” [2]
Only 2 of the participants actually had to have surgery, which seems to indicate that perhaps even from within the small percentage of people for whom surgery “might be beneficial” only a tiny fraction of those surgical procedures are actually necessary. [2]
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