Disc herniations CAN heal without surgery

Kirsten is kind enough to share her story with us.

She herniated a disc in her neck in 2020 and contacted me in a great deal of pain and anxiety. Her story tracks the typical course of disc injuries when they are treated conservatively, rest is applied in the acute stage, and gentle, incremental exercise and bodywork are applied through repair and rehabilitation. Give a listen to her story.

My approach to disc injury is outlined here:
   • Resolving Disc Injury Non-surgically  

In this video I am most interested in demonstrating how to approach a patient who has recovered from a severe disc injury, what contraindications exist and how to modify the touch and pressure to keep the disc safe and keep the patient nice and relaxed.

We tested for any residual nerve entrapment, finding none. She had great stability and strength in the cervical spine.

Palpating the posterior trunk and assessing shoulder ROM were remarkable mainly for how free of findings they were. With lower cervical disc injury in the history, PA pressure on the thorax can cause the patient to tense up, so I demonstrate gentle rotational joint play evaluation.

The supine cervical exam was remarkable for some upper trapezius attachment trigger points and scalene tension, which are important to work through gently and with care taken to avoid pressure on the neurovascular bundle in the scalene triangle.

Kirsten stated that she had tenderness in the right AC joint relieved by pressure in the axilla, which we examined and my conclusion was that the pain was coming from the subscapularis tendon.

Assessment starts at 5:50 with assessment of cervical mobility grossly and segmentally.
Wrist, hand, and arm strength testing 7:15
Neck strength testing 8:00
Prone assessment 9:20
Rightshoulder ROM prone 10:05
Right rhomboid trigger point work 10:50
Left shoulder ROM prone 12:15
Left shoulder myofascial release 12:40
Thoracic segmental assessment prone with modifications for disc 13:50
Cervical spine assessment 15:28
Right shoulder tenderness evaluation and deep axillary palpation 21:30

Thank you for watching! Comments and feedback are welcome.

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