Many people who suffer from degenerative spine conditions have had success with alternative treatments. Regardless of whether your symptoms are mild and intermittent or severe and chronic, you simply may not be ready to consider a surgical procedure. For this reason, holistic treatments offer a wonderful way to explore additional conservative, non-operative treatments.
What Is Holistic Medicine?
Degenerative spine conditions, like herniated discs, bulging discs, bone spurs, and sciatic nerve compression, are never easy to deal with. However, holistic medicine is a route of pain relief that has grown in popularity over the last several decades; furthermore, many people have found that improving the body’s overall health has also improved the state of their spine. Holistic treatments can include any of the following:
- Biofeedback – A form of therapy that changes the way your brain interprets and responds to pain signals. Electrodes are used to find patterns in your body’s physical responses to stimuli. Once the relationships between psychological and physiological responses have been established, the patient can modify his or her behavior and manage pain more successfully.
- Yoga – A practice of stretching and meditative breathing that can be adapted to suit a variety of spinal ailments. After receiving clearance from your physician, you can choose the yogic discipline that best suits your needs, like relaxation, restoration, strength-building, detoxification, and flexibility.
- Chiropractic work – Focuses on the health of the musculoskeletal system, particularly in the spine. Practitioners believe that a properly aligned spinal column is the basis for overall health.
- Herbal medicine – The use of plant extracts to treat disease and other physical ailments. The extracts can take the form of tisanes, tinctures, or aromatherapy. Popular herbs for relief of back pain include chamomile, yarrow juice, burdock, and St. John’s Wort.
What If Conservative or Alternative Treatments Are Not Effective?
While the majority of patients who suffer from degenerative spine conditions will likely be able to find relief from alternative holistic treatments or conservative treatments like exercise, pain medication, and hot-cold therapy, a small percentage of individuals may need surgery. If you fall into this category, contact Laser Spine Institute. We’ll offer you a free review of your MRI or CT scan to determine if you could be a candidate for one of our minimally invasive, endoscopic procedures.
