Expert Care for Lower Back Herniated Discs and Spinal Pain in Decatur

If you’re looking for expert care for lower back herniated discs and spinal pain in Decatur, consider me.

I think I have the most effective, non-surgical treatment for lower back herniated discs and spinal pain in Decatur.  Why?  

This is a topic that has preoccupied me since 1983, both personally and professionally.  And, I’ve been in practice since 1987, including 18 years in orthopedics, physical medicine and physical therapy, and 5 years, part-time, in a neurosurgical practice.  I’ve had the opportunity to learn and analyze various approaches to spinal treatment.  And since 2006 I have developed a unique conception, and treatment for such problems, that is more effective than that I had used previously.  And it stems from my understanding that all of us spine specialists are trying to ameliorate the signs and symptoms arising from the slow, progressive, degenerative compression of the spine, that describes its natural history.  

Almost all the treatments we do are in the context of, and in an effort to, mitigate this process.  And, given that reality, you would think that non-surgical spinal decompression treatment would be the major approach to treatment.  And yet, shockingly, we act as if spinal compression doesn’t exist until it requires surgery.  I cannot tell you how absurd and irrational that is.  And I think it is a neglect of lemmings, all doing the same things, blind to the natural history of the spine.    

Why come to a non-surgical spinal specialist?  All spine specialists, including surgeons, have a bias against surgery, except when necessary.  So going to a non-surgical, spine specialist, first, almost always makes the most sense.  But it’s best if that non-surgical specialist also knows diagnoses and surgical treatments too.  Why?

Physical therapists are now doctors of physical therapy, but they’re not highly trained in diagnoses.  They are still getting most of their referrals from doctors who did the diagnosing.  Sometimes that doesn’t matter, but sometimes it does.  For example, if you go to a physical therapist who didn’t read your MRI scan, what can s/he tell you about your disc herniation, bulge, stenosis, spondylolisthesis, prognosis, etc?  

The same can be true of chiropractors without much experience.  It takes a lot of training and/or experience in spinal problems to learn what is the problem, what is not the problem, what to do, how long will it take, what to expect when, when progress is too slow, what other options you have, etc. 

There are also lots of pet theories in physical therapy and chiropractic about what causes pain.  Such theories can be helpful in trying different things, but they are often unproven and waste time and money. To be fair, sometimes it doesn’t matter.  Sometimes you’re going to get the same treatment, and what matters is whether you improve.  

There is a problem in medicine.  All of us spine specialists try to do, or send the patient to do, the most appropriate treatment.  But most of us do not spend time in the other specialties.  So, for example, the chiropractor and physical therapist do not spend time learning surgery.  Neither does the pain management doctor.  The orthopedic and neurosurgeons don’t spend time learning chiropractic or physical therapy.  So most doctors don’t have first-hand knowledge of the other disciplines.  And that makes it hard for doctors to discern the best treatments outside of their specialty.  

But I am a chiropractor who spent 18 years in orthopedics, physical medicine and physical therapy.  And 5 years in neurosurgery.  So I have a real appreciation for those specialities, and their benefits and limits.  The combination of all these specialties is the best we have.  And a doctor who knows and appreciates them all, firsthand, is uncommon and highly valuable to patients.  

There are also pathologies that some doctors will miss because their clinical experience isn’t rich.  As an example, and this won’t mean much to lay people, but much to some doctors, cervical stenosis can trick plenty of doctors including physical therapists, chiropractors, physician assistants and others.  This pathology is invisible to many doctors.  And patients can miss it too, because they may not have any neck pain.  

And I have seen patients get passed among specialists who miss problems by staying too narrow in their specialty and perspective.  Of course, no doctor is perfect, but broad experience is best.

With experience comes competence, confidence and humility.  And this serves patients well.  I’ve had 37 years to observe, treat, listen, learn, communicate, and be humbled with reality.  And I’ve seen the merits of so many doctors and treatments.  But I’ve also seen doctors who are pushed, with limited time, and poor treatment options.  And I’ve seen patients wondering, “Is this the best that medicine can do”?  Pills and no answers to my questions?  What is wrong with me?  What is my problem?  I’m afraid because I’m getting the run around.  Is this normal for everyone to avoid answering my questions?

When I see patients, the first thing I have to do is to give them an understanding of their problem, with a parsimonious (simple) explanation of the problem, and the relative commonness of it.  Is their problem common, not so common, typical, atypical, how confident am I that I can help, if I can’t when do I decide to do what next?  

Patients in pain are afraid.  Even doctors who know what is the problem are afraid?  Why?  That is what evolution designed.  For every person to be afraid when pain compromises their homeostasis, even when the pain is benign.  It happens to me, and I know it’s is almost certainly going to get better.  I explain this to patients to alleviate their anxiety as much as possible until they start to feel better.  And then their anxiety will reduce; not until.    If I can provide a reasonable prediction about the course of their improvement, once it begins to improve, they will feel less fear; not before.  So treatment has to start to help fast.  And 80% of the time my first treatment will help them.  20% of the time improvement will happen later or not at all, and I will have to refer about 5-10% of patients to another specialist.

Medications are a short-term answer almost always.  They seldom address the pathological lesion.  And, wow, do they cause problems too.  We rely less on medications than before, because doctors are referring more to non-surgical providers, instead of just medicating patients.

So if you’re searching for Lower Back Herniated Decatur, or Spinal Pain Treatment Decatur, please call me at 404-558-4015.