Chiropractic management and rehabilitation of a 38-year-old male with an L5-s1 disc herniation.

OBJECTIVE

To present a chiropractic treatment plan for a patient with lumbar disc herniation including radicular symptoms below the knee.

CLINICAL FEATURES: A 38-year-old male experienced lumbar disc herniation with radicular symptoms to the lower extremities, below the knee. Etiology of this episode included a traumatic injury which was complicated by chronic degenerative joint and disc changes.

INTERVENTION AND OUTCOME: The treatment regime included chiropractic spinal manipulation, modalities and exercise rehabilitation. Specific rehabilitation exercises were used during various stages of healing in an attempt to stabilize a potential surgical case. Goals of care were to alleviate pain, increase function, and decrease peripheralization related to disc herniation in this case. The patient reached a level of functional biomechanical stability over 15 weeks.

CONCLUSION

This case demonstrates that with proper management, rehabilitation of a patient with disc herniation can be reached in a short duration of time.