Minster Chiropractic Care for Thoracic Disc Herniation
The thoracic spine, the middle section of your spine, gets overlooked. “Mid back pain” doesn’t easily come out of your mouth in quite the same way as “neck pain” and “back pain” or “arm pain” and “leg pain”. But the thoracic spine can have pain of its own. A thoracic disc herniation may be associated with seemingly dissimilar conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, painful or frequent urination. Minster Chiropractic Center does talk about the thoracic spine and its mid-back pain. Minster Chiropractic Center gently cares for the thoracic spine’s mid-back pain to successfully ease it.
THORACIC DISC HERNIATION
The frequency of thoracic disc herniation in people who have no pain is 11-37%. It’s not as infrequent as we think. Two studies described abdominal wall bulges: A patient later diagnosed with a thoracic disc herniation at T11-12 on MRI imaging presented with a lateral abdominal wall bulge that reduced 8 months later as the disc herniation healed. (1) An additional two similar cases with herniations at T12-L1 and T10-11 and T11-12 had paresis of the abdominis muscle. After conservative treatment, muscle strength returned to normal in 3 to 6 months. (2) Symptoms of thoracic disc herniation can range from abdominal pain, constipation, urinary incontinence, anesthesia or lack of anal reflex, bowel dysfunction, nausea, to irritable bowel among other issues. (3) A couple other studies report on the incidence of gastrointestinal and gastrourinary issues with thoracic disc herniations. In a study of 100 patients with thoracic disc herniation, 95% had one or more digestive-urologic symptoms, but only 3% were diagnosed with thoracic disc protrusion. 70.76% of thoracic disc herniations occurred below the T7 level. Most were central herniations (65.25%). 85% of thoracic disc herniation patients with abdominal pain had a positive DN4 test for neuropathic pain in contrast with only 8% in the control group. 77% of the patients had abdominal pain (and 16.88% of them had had a surgery to relieve the pain to discover that they still have the same pain after surgery). 90% of thoracic disc pain patients report back pain, 43% have pubic pain, 35% report genital area pain, 66% report lower limb pain. (4) Thoracic disc herniation sufferers often experience these issues – chronic abdominal pain, digestive issues, and urological symptoms. Another researcher gave details about two patients with T10-11 herniations who displayed moderate lower extremity weakness, increased patellar tendon reflex, and sensory disturbance of the entire lower extremities. (5) Minster Chiropractic Center does a complete examination to determine how a thoracic disc herniation is affecting our Minster chiropractic mid-back pain patients.
EXAMINATION
Gastrointestinal surgeons are very likely to see patients with thoracic disc herniation as their symptoms are gastrointestinal and/or gastrourinary in nature but without any organic reason for them. A reliable test to discover whether the abdominal pain is due to issues with the abdomen or a visceral issue is Carnett’s Sign. It is well-known for its sensitivity of 78 to 85% and specificity of 88 to 97%. (6) It directs the examining physician to the source of pain! For Minster patients with inexplicable abdominal pain or odd abdominal wall bulges, consult Minster Chiropractic Center who understands the connection of these problems to the thoracic disc herniation. Gentle, chiropractic spinal manipulation with Cox® Technic to the thoracic spine may help relieve pain and symptomatology of the thoracic disc herniation.
CONTACT Minster Chiropractic Center
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Kurt Olding on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson who really knows and understands the unusual but significant thoracic disc herniation. Dr. Olding defines the thoracic disc herniation and its symptomatology as well as its alleviating treatment with Cox® Technic.
Schedule a Minster chiropractic appointment at Minster Chiropractic Center for your thoracic spine and its mid-back issues. Minster Chiropractic Center doesn’t overlook the thoracic spine, and you shouldn’t either!
