VICTORVILLE, Calif., April 21, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A Victorville chiropractor wants people suffering from back pain, neck pain or other debilitating spinal issues to understand that natural treatment methods frequently make surgery unnecessary. Dr. James Boehmer of Life Chiropractic states that manual adjustments, spinal decompression and various supportive therapies can relieve the acute or chronic pain, tingling, numbness and loss of function that often accompanies a spinal condition.
"It is our hope that individuals suffering from these symptoms will get and evaluation here first, because it could spare them an expensive, invasive surgery and possibly an extended recuperation period, depending on the procedure performed," says Dr. Boehmer.
The practitioner points to a medical study published in the December 12, 2012 issue of Spine as corroboration of his statement. The study looked at the medical records of 1,885 Washington State workers who had suffered a spinal injury and then returned to their jobs. The study noted that 9.2 percent of these workers had ended up having spinal surgery within three years after their injury. Of those study participants, however, some first consulted a surgeon, while others first consulted a chiropractor. While 42.7 percent of the workers who had initially consulted a surgeon underwent spinal surgery, only 1.5 percent of those who had initially consulted a chiropractor did the same.
Dr. Boehmer comments that these results clearly indicate the effectiveness of the chiropractor's techniques for spinal conditions that many would automatically assume required surgical intervention. "Take a herniated disc, for example," he says. "This is a condition in which the inner part of the gelatinous disc between two vertebrae leaks out of the disc and presses against a nearby nerve root." Such herniations, he explains, can cause neck pain, back pain, headaches and sciatica.
Surgical remedies may include microdiscectomy, in which a portion of the disc is removed, or fusion surgery to fix the vertebrae in place permanently. "The more extensive or invasive the surgery, the more expensive it is, the higher the risks can be, and the longer it takes for patient to recuperate," says the Victorville chiropractor.
Dr. Boehmer's practice uses a variety of natural, non-invasive treatments that enable these injuries to heal themselves relatively quickly and easily. Spinal manipulations known as adjustments can help correct subluxation, the state of misalignment between vertebrae that often leads to disc trouble. Additionally, he can use spinal decompression, a form of traction that creates a vacuum pressure to draw the herniated portion of the disc back into its usual placement. "We urge patients with back pain or neck pain to consult us first. If surgery is required, we will make that referral. But it should be a last resort, not a first course of action."
The Victorville clinic offers spinal screenings and adjustments, corrective exercise and rehabilitation programs, physiotherapy and lifestyle counseling for area patients.