Suffering from a herniated disc that is interfering with your daily life? Dr. Gianfranco Calafiore at Chiropractic Healing Arts Center in El Cajon, CA, offers personalized herniated disc treatments to provide optimal relief.
Chiropractic Care for Herniated Discs
Herniated discs don’t always create symptoms, which is why many people don’t even realize they have one. However, when they do create symptoms, they can be extremely difficult to deal with. Below, Dr. Calafiore and the team at Chiropractic Healing Arts Center in El Cajon, CA, explain what herniated discs are, how they develop, the symptoms they often cause, and how chiropractic herniated disc treatments can help.
Herniated Discs: Causes and Symptoms
Your spinal bones are cushioned by pliable discs that allow your spine to move without your bones rubbing against one another. They are made from a jelly-like substance that is protected by a tough outer casing.
Sometimes, this outer casing develops a tear through which the jelly-like substance can escape. If the substance does not spill onto anything, it might not cause any symptoms. The symptoms usually occur when that substance spills onto a surrounding nerve, causing shooting pains, tingling and numbness, muscle weakness, and much more.
These tears sometimes occur due to the body sustaining a sudden forceful movement, such as in an auto accident. More often, however, they develop over time due to poor posture, spinal misalignment, repetitive lifting, and similar habits.
Treatments for Herniated Disc
Chiropractors often address herniated discs with a few goals in mind. They aim to relieve pressure on the disc, get the disc back into place, treat any related symptoms, and prevent the injury from occurring again. The following techniques can help achieve these goals.
- Adjustments: Adjustments restore proper alignment of the vertebrae, relieving undue pressure from the discs.
- Spinal decompression: Decompression therapy gently stretches the spine, further relieving pressure on the disc. It also causes a vacuum-like effect that pulls in the disc’s filling and pulls healing nutrients to the spine.
- Therapeutic exercises: Targeted movements help stretch the spine to create more space as well as strengthen the core muscles to ensure the spine has proper support.
- Soft tissue techniques: Herniated discs often cause muscle spasms and other types of pain and discomfort in the soft tissues. They can also damage the nerves. Techniques such as massage therapy and electrical stimulation can relieve spasms, increase blood circulation, and stimulate tissue repair.
The combination of techniques will be determined according to the patient’s individual needs.
Call (619) 460-4465 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Calafiore at Chiropractic Healing Arts Center in El Cajon, CA, for a personalized combination of herniated disc treatments for the most comprehensive relief.
