Thanks for checking in!!! Welcome to Edition #3.

In the past two newsletters we covered self-help ideas for posture, fasting, and whiplash. This BTW, is all fully original content - just for you. No AI used.

Today’s topic - drum roll please:

The Truth About Disc Herniations

Disc herniations can heal without surgey. The picture above is ‘before and after’ MRI proof from one of our own patients. The blob-like area you see surrounded by arrows, and crosshatched and highlighted on the left is a large L5-S1 disc herniation pressing on the nerves that go down the leg. The image on the right is the same person after undergoing a care plan with us. There is a 70% reduction in the size of the herniation, with no nerve impingement taking place. He came to see us with incapacitating back and leg pain. He became pain free in approximately 4 weeks. The ‘after’ MRI was taken 4 months later courtesy of Palm Harbor MRI who donated the test as a means of helping to prove the effectiveness of our methods.

Why the Terrible Leg Pain?

Lumbar (lower back) disc herniations can impinge upon nerves that exit the spine and travel down the leg, as seen in the illustration above. Often called ‘sciatica’, this is a very common symptom of disc herniation, and it can affect different parts of the leg, all the way down to the foot, causing terrible pain and numbness. As disc herniations heal, they become smaller and will eventually move away from the nerve, relieving the leg pain. (Recall the 70% reduction in the herniation in the illustration above.)

Our Formula For Success

I will go over some self-help for disc herniations, but first - a commercial for the formula I have used to keep thousands away from the knife over my near 40 years in practice.

1. Take the pressure off. Disc herniations don’t like to be compressed. Standing and sitting compresses the damaged disc material and perpetuates the protrusion while stalling healing. You will need to modify your daily activities to allow for frequent rest periods lying down. We teach our patients simple decompression exercises that speed up healing.

2.  Ice regularly the spinal area involved.

3. Chiropractic adjustments - gently applied to help re-align the vertebrae around the damaged disc.

4. Manual decompression traction applied by hand using our proprietary method to help return the protruded disc material to it’s normal position.

5. Mechanical decompression traction - specialized equipment in our office used to gently and effectively traction and decompress damaged discs.

Self Help - Home Decompression 101

Herniated discs need very frequent decompression to heal. I have taught this simple but effective exercise thousands to times to provide a home decompression starting point that supports the process we use here in the office.

1. Lay flat on you back. You can support your head with your favorite pillow. You can be on the bed/couch (floor not necessary).

2. Pull up one leg at a time (as seen n the picture) and hold for the count of 10. DO NOT straighten out the leg you are not holding. Do not pull hard or try to flatten your thigh against your abdomen. See illustration.

3. Alternate legs. Repeat 10 times holding for 10 seconds with each leg. Make sure the leg you are not holding stays bent as in the illustration.

4. Relax. Go slow. Repeat this routine hourly. This process should not be painful. If it is, stop and give us a call.

Use Ice

Ice the small of your back for 20 minutes every 3-4 hours from late morning until bedtime. Try to lay on you back while icing with knees bent. Similar position to the exercise above.

While we issue great ice packs here in the office, but in a pinch - use a bag of frozen peas!

Wrap the plastic bag in a moistened wash cloth or small towel. Can be used multiple times (just make sure you put it back in the freezer between uses!)

Prevention

Why disc herniate in a big topic - good for another newsletter. For now, here is the top list of things to avoid if you don’t want to end up with this very painful condition.

1. Avoid lifting while twisted.

2. Bend at the knees and keep you back straight when lifting anything from the floor.

3. Lift a pencil from the floor with the same posture you would lift something heavy. In some cases, the mere weight of your torso while bending over improperly can damage a disc.

4. If you smoke - quit. Smoking dehydrates discs making then susceptible to damage.

5. Straight from bed, take a hot shower first thing every morning and warm up your spine.

6. Get on a low inflammatory diet. We will go over this in detail in subsequent newsletters!

Self help and prevention are always king. However, this can be a very serious problem, and we have great results waiting for you or a loved one if you have a herniated disc. Call us on:

(727) 787-3991

If it’s been over a year since you have seen us, ask about any re-connection specials we have.

Catch you on the next one!!!

Blessings,

Dr. Seiler