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Hi, Dr. Greg Malakoff here, sharing some life experience hoping that it will make your experience of life a little more hopeful and pleasant.
People usually associate Chiropractors with slipped discs. I have good and bad news for you. Discs do not slip. It is just a term that got into the public’s mind, but it does not really describe what has happened if you are told that you have a slipped disc. What you really have is a bulged or herniated disc.
Do You Need a Home Visit?
That truly depends upon you, more likely than not you have been feeling this coming on for quite awhile. Maybe you are under the care of a chiropractor or doctor. Most people call me after regular office hours. If you truly have a herniated disc, you are going to require ongoing attention. That can become costly. However, when you are in the kind of pain that has you considering whether to call me, then I highly recommend that you do so because of all the advantages I listed previously comparing the kind of treatment you will receive from me versus an emergency room.
Keep in mind that I am not an Emergency Room and if the situation deteriorates further I do charge more for a call after 11 PM. I’ve found from experience, these situations are more likely than not going to deteriorate as opposed to magically resolving because you previously purchased a $29 TENS unit.
Depending upon how long this condition has been going on, how much degeneration has occurred, how out of shape you are, and numerous other factors, determine the likelihood of a good result. While many patients have received miraculous results, I can’t say that is always going to be the case. Medical science determines a good beneficial result as a patient receiving a 30% decrease in pain.
When I arrive on site, I bring many physiotherapy modalities modalities some that are not even in offices. These physiotherapy tools, such as ultra sound, interferential current, rapid release technology, vibrocussors and arthrostims are of great benefit in reducing pain. However, I use these as a precursor to the chiropractic adjustment which is the best mechanism known to medical science for managing spine pain. Additionally, I have taken practically every technique seminar available to the profession and will utilize aspects of all techniques to make you more comfortable. Whether it be S.O.T. A.K. D.N.F.T. Activator, Logan, H.I.O, etc. as they say in Hollywood, I do it all. What I found works best is diversified technique and that is what I will utilize first if there are no indications not to. It is the biggest bang for the buck and many practitioners do not employ that method because of the high level of skill that it requires.
Slipped Disk vs Herniated Disk
The difference is simple to visualize. If you squeeze a tube of toothpaste a little bit of the gel comes out. That is a bulged disc. These days almost everyone has a little mild bulging in their discs. If the gel does not touch a nerve you are a happy camper living life to the fullest. If the gel is slightly touching a nerve, often a chiropractor can create a negative barometric pressure by fast stretching the joint and that is the equivalent to taking your fingers off the tube and the gel gets sucked back into its container.
If you were to jump onto that tube of toothpaste and the gel got all over the mirror, you are now the proud owner of a dirty mirror and that is the equivalent to a herniated disc. You are not getting that back in the tube and more likely than not, either is the chiropractor.
What is most important to understand, a slipped disc, which does not slip, is not the cause of most back pain. There are so many factors that can cause low back pain and most can respond well to chiropractic care. Surgery is statistically not necessary in the majority of back and neck pain episodes.
If chiropractic can’t help you, I’ll tell you, but I don’t do that very often because most patients do get well without surgery because their disc is not slipped in the first place. It didn’t go anywhere. It is right where you left it. Well in most cases.
I am an on call, on site, mobile chiropractor that is often called out for emergency situations that resolve into non urgent situations with the patient returning to normal function. I can’t guarantee this, but I can guarantee that you are going to get more face to face time with me at your home or place of work than you would in a typical office visit or Emergency/ Urgent care facility visit.
Feel free to call me at (310) 663-9975
