Dear Bulging,
Chiropractic care is absolutely safe for bulging discs and this has been a known effective treatment for decades. Additional conservative therapies utilized with traditional spinal manipulation would be decompression as well which is a computer generated traction for the discs in the low back or neck. In fact, Spinal manipulation is even recommended by the medical community since the 50's and 60's as effective for disc pathology. (see below)
Conservative Treatment of Intervertebral Disk Lesions: American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
Instructional Course Lectures, Volume 11, 1954, pp.118-120, RH Ramsey, MD
DR. RAMSEY NOTES:
“The conservative management of lumbar disk lesions should be given careful consideration because no patient should be considered for surgical treatment without first having failed to respond to an adequate program of conservative treatment.”
“From what is known about the pathology of lumbar disk lesions, it would seem that the ideal form of conservative treatment would theoretically be a manipulative closed reduction of the displaced disk material.”
“If after a fair trial of conservative treatment, the pain and disability continue and the symptoms are of sufficient gravity to warrant surgery, the patient is advised that he should be operated upon and the offending disk lesion should be removed.”
The following sequence of conservative treatment is advocated:
1) Varying degrees of rest: Rest is most beneficial in acute cases and less beneficial in chronic cases. It is important to curtail non-occupational activities such as athletics or more strenuous home hobbies. “Prolonged sitting, standing or walking should usually be stopped.”
2) Manipulation: “Many forms of manipulation are carried out by orthopaedic surgeons and by cultists (INSERT Chiropractic Physician) and this form of treatment will probably always be a controversial one.” “We limit the use of manipulation almost entirely to those patients who do not seem to be responding well to non-manipulative conservative treatment and who are anxious to have something else done short of operative intervention.” “The method we use is relatively simple and can be done with or without anesthesia. It is more likely to be effective with anesthesia because the muscle relaxation permits greater motion by manipulation.”
“The patient lies on his side on the edge of the table facing the surgeon and the leg that is up is allowed to drop over the side of the table, tending to swing the upside of the pelvis forward. The arm that is up is allowed to drop back behind the patient, tending to pull the shoulder back. The surgeon then places one hand on the patient’s shoulder and his opposite forearm on the patient’s iliac crest. Simultaneously, the shoulder is thrust suddenly back, rotating the torso in one direction while the iliac crest is thrust down and forward, rotating the pelvis in the opposite direction. This gives the lumbar spine a twist that frequently causes an audible and palpable crunch. This procedure is then repeated with the patient on his other side. The patient is then turned on his back and his hips and knees are hyperflexed sufficiently to forcibly flex the lumbar spine which tends to open up the disk spaces posteriorly.”
“The patient should be cautioned beforehand that forceful manipulation may possibly make his symptoms worse although many patients will get marked relief.”
3) Local heat.
4) A firm bed: “Most patients with low back pain on a mechanical basis rest much better on a bed
which does not sag in the middle.”
5) A low back support: “The patient is advised to wear the support during the day and also in the evening
at anytime he or she is going to be up and more active.”
6) Instruction in the avoidance of strain: “The patient should be advised to avoid all activities that aggravate his pain. He is especially warned about heavy lifting.” Under some circumstances, it may be necessary for the patient to change his occupation. “All strenuous athletic pursuits should be stopped temporarily.”
7) Postural exercises: These should be both strengthening and stretching exercises.
8) Medication: “Fairly large doses of the vitamin B Complex have proved beneficial to many patients.”
9) Weight control: Obesity definitely predisposes the patient to painful back conditions and such patients should be encouraged to reduce to a normal weight.”
10) Improvement in general health.
KEY POINTS FROM HEALTH SOURCE
The most interesting thing to note here is that this lecture was given by a surgeon in 1954… At that time, medical doctors were strictly forbidden by the Amercian Medical Association (AMA) to have any connection, or communication with chiropractors. MD’s were further not permitted to refer any patients to a chiropractor for any reason.
The AMA promulgated and distributed false statements about the chiropractic profession, and had formed a committee for the sole purpose of eliminating the chiropractic profession and often had chiropractors arrested and jailed for “practicing medicine without a license”.
With that being known, everything in this article is what chiropractors do on a daily basis for their low back pain patients. However, the manipulative techniques that chiropractors utilize are more specific in nature than what is described above, and tend to be short lever techniques than long lever techniques. Notice under the medication section that vitamins are considered the medication of choice for low back pain.
Reduction of Lumbar Disc Prolapse by Manipulation: British Medical Journal, 9/20/69, No. 3, 696-697
JA Mathews, DAH Yates From the Department of Physical Medicine, St. Thomas’s Hospital, London
FROM ABSTRACT:
In patients with symptoms and signs characteristic of a mechanical lumbar spine disorder epidurography showed the presence of small disc prolapses. Treatment by manipulation relieved the symptoms of lumbago, and repeat epidurography showed that the prolapses were reduced in size. Reduction of disc prolapse by manipulation has not before been objectively demonstrated.
THESE AUTHORS ALSO NOTE:
“Manipulation of the lumbar spine has been used as an empirical treatment of low backache since antiquity. The persistence and popularity of this type of treatment was based on the clinical impression that it is beneficial.”
“The frequent accompaniment of acute onset low back pain by spinal deformity suggests a mechanical factor, and the accompanying abnormality of straight-leg raise or femoral stretch test suggests that the lesion impinges on the spinal dura matter of the dural nerve sheaths.”
The controversy surrounding the mechanism of lumbago and its relief by manipulation led to this study. All patients had low back pain of rapid onset and of less than one week’s duration, and without pain radiating below the knee. The manipulations performed were without anesthetic and using a “rotation technique.”
“The lumbar spine was rotated away from the painful side to the limit of its range, the buttock or thigh of the painful side being used as a lever; a firm additional thrust was made in the same direction. This manoeuver was repeated until abnormal symptoms and signs had disappeared, progress being assessed by repeated examination.”
The authors present two representative cases. In both cases there was an acute onset of low back and buttock pain, antalgia, positive stretch tests, and failure to improve with rest. In both cases an epidural venogram showed a protruded L4-L5 disc. Both cases became symptom free without antalgia following a series of rotary lumbar spine manipulation maneuvers.
“The epidurograms showed a reduction in the size of the disc protrusions, represented by concavities in the contrast medium, following manipulation. This effect had not previously been
demonstrated.”
These authors concluded “it seems likely that the reduction effect [of the disc protrusion] is due to the manipulating thrust used.”
Epidurography is more efficient than conventional myelography at demonstrating small disc protrusions.
“Rotation manipulations apply torsion stress throughout the lumbar spine. If the posterior longitudinal ligament and the annulus fibrosus are intact, some of this torsion force would tend to exert a centripetal force, reducing prolapsed or bulging disc material.”
“The results of this study suggest that small disc protrusions were present in patients presenting with lumbago and that the protrusions were diminished in size when their symptoms had been relieved by manipulations.”
KEY POINTS FROM HEALTHSOURCE CHIROPRACTIC & PROGRESSIVE REHAB:
1) “Manipulation of the lumbar spine has been used as an empirical treatment of low backache since antiquity.”
2) In this study, the patients clearly had disc protrusions causing low back and leg pain (not below the knee).
3) The lumbar spine manipulations delivered to these patients were clearly long-lever rotation manipulations, using the shoulder and iliac crest as levers, accompanied with a thrust maneuver.
4) The manipulations performed in this study were repeated until abnormal symptoms and signs had disappeared.
5) Following the manipulations there was resolution of signs, symptoms, antalgia, and reduction in the size of the protrusions.
6) “Rotation manipulations apply torsion stress throughout the lumbar spine. If the posterior longitudinal ligament and the annulus fibrosus are intact, some of this torsion force would tend to exert a centripetal force, reducing prolapsed or bulging disc material.”
7) “The results of this study suggest that small disc protrusions were present in patients presenting with lumbago and that the protrusions were diminished in size when their symptoms had been relieved by manipulations.”
8) Chiropractic physicians have the most advanced training of any health care professional in manipulative treatments of the spine and perform more than 96% of all spinal manipulations.
Hope this helps!
Best of luck on your recovery!
Shawn Leatherman