EHS Physical Therapy and Chiropractic

EHS Physical Therapy and Chiropractic EHS PT & Chiro is your premier clinic for Spine, Muscle, and Joint pain.

06/21/2025

Answering Your Herniated Disc Quesions From Real Patients!

The vast majority (90%+) of people with a Bulged or Herniated Disc will be able to fully recover without surgery as long as they are assessed correctly and give the appropriate Rehab Plan.

If you're unsure about your current rehab plan or if you still don't have a rehab plan, message me directly for a free video.

06/12/2025

Answering Real Herniated Disc Questions from a Patient

We will soon be moving to 72nd and Pacific!More details to come
02/07/2025

We will soon be moving to 72nd and Pacific!
More details to come

Have you been told you have a Disc Protrusion or Herniation? How is this different than a Disc Bulge?Will it take longer...
10/15/2024

Have you been told you have a Disc Protrusion or Herniation?
How is this different than a Disc Bulge?
Will it take longer to heal?
Are you having Arm symptoms or Leg symptoms?

The outer layer of the disc is called the Annulus and has many nerve endings. This is why a disruption to the annular wall is so painful.

The inner part of the disc is called the Nucleus and acts as a shock absorber for our spine and body. If the Nucleus starts putting some pressure on the layers of the annular wall, that can cause lower back pain.

If the Annular wall has a defect due to age or tear, the nuclear material can push further into and potentially through the annular wall. Your body will recognize this as a significant insult and create an inflammatory reaction, causing significant pain.

If part of that nuclear material is putting pressure on a nerve root, that will cause the strange symptoms of pain, burning, numbness, weakness, etc along a dermatomal pattern in the arm or leg.

So, a Protrusion or Herniation are more serious and can take some more time to heal. We must first assess properly and determine if there is a direction or movement that will help move the nuclear material out of that space and allow for the annular wall to heal. Then we can progress to some additional exercises.
However, doing "Core" exercises while there is a Disc Protrusion or Herniation creating pressure on the nerve root or during an inflammatory reaction will have little to NO effect on your symptoms.

You may have seen or read the report from your image that the discs in your spine have began to "Dehydrate" or lose some...
10/10/2024

You may have seen or read the report from your image that the discs in your spine have began to "Dehydrate" or lose some height.

This is a natural progression of aging and while there can be some correlation, meaning it's often seen in people with spine or disc pain, it is NOT Causation. Others with the same natural dehydration of the disc do not have pain.

There are ways to help keep your discs healthier though and slow that shrinking process!

1. Discs are very hydrophilic: Meaning they really like water. This is why we are a little taller in the morning and and shrink as the day goes on. The disc will suck up water around it. Staying hydrated with plenty of water will help.

2. Exercise! Despite being told to not exercise, this is one of the best ways to strengthen and rehydrate the discs.
The discs are essentially shock absorbers and those controlled loads help to squish old fluid out and reabsorb new nutritious fluid.

3. Avoid Prolonged Sitting. You may have already found this to be more pain for you. Being inactive and sitting in a poor posture is one of the most important things you can change to help your spine and discs.

Pain originating from the spine can refer and manifest itself to many areas of the body. Of course it is common to have ...
10/08/2024

Pain originating from the spine can refer and manifest itself to many areas of the body.

Of course it is common to have pain around the cervical, thoracic, or lumbar spine with a spine or disc injury. This pain can be across the entire area on both the left and right side or just on the one side of the body.

It is often quite normal for pain to refer to the trap, shoulder blade, shoulder, or down the arm when dealing with a lower cervical or upper thoracic spine/disc injury.

One important note is that you DON'T have to have a line or connecting pain. If fact, pain that is between joints, like in the forearm for example, is almost certainly from the lower cervical spine.

The Thoracic spine can refer pain around the ribs which can make breathing or twisting very painful

The Lumbar spine will often refer pain to the buttock or lateral hip area. This can be quite difficult to diagnosis sometimes as there a few other structures that can produce pain in these areas.

Again, you could go to bed with pain just in the lower back or buttock area and then wake up with pain in the anterior thigh or all the way down in the calf or outer leg.

These pains do NOT have to connect or show the classic Sciatica pattern of a straight line down the back of the leg.

The area between the shoulder blade and spine is a common spot for a lower cervical or upper thoracic spine/disc issue. ...
10/04/2024

The area between the shoulder blade and spine is a common spot for a lower cervical or upper thoracic spine/disc issue.

This is a classic area for pain to be produced or referred to. It is very common to start in this area and then as things progress it will often move further (peripheralize) to the shoulder or down the arm.

This pain is likely intermittent and brought on by certain positions, postures, or activities like sitting on your computer or looking down.

You may even notice some loss of motion with turning or looking up.

The best way to get this problem solved quickly would be with a combination of cervical retraction/extension and thoracic extension in sitting.

If your unsure on how to properly perform those, here is a link to those movements: https://youtu.be/9Uj7o9pw4Xs

09/27/2024

The state of some Spine Specialists has now devolved so much that they won't even see a person unless the MRI is sent before hand.

Which means they are "ASSESSING" you without you EVEN BEING IN THE ROOM. They aren't talking to you...they aren't moving you around

They won't even exam or talk to you UNLESS you're a potential candidate for surgery.

09/22/2024

Does pain from a Herniated Disc always go away over time???

I saw this question from a different group and thought it was worth trying to explain.

In general, the vast majority of Herniated Disc Pain will go away over time. The science and research states about 90%+ of people will recover with time.

You have to keep in mind the time frame will be different for each person.

There is no standard for this like a broken bone. If you were to have fractured your arm, physiologically, it will take about 8 weeks for that bone to heal. Those kinds of tissues, have very good physiological time frames. Discs do NOT get the same blood flow and do NOT heal the same.

They are much more dynamic in their presentation and healing.

The difficult part is that when you're in the middle of having intense pain from a bad disc, you can't think about the future as this can be VERY debilitating.

My top tips:

1. Stay Active, but Modify Movements
While resting can be necessary for flare-ups, avoid prolonged bed rest. Gentle activities like walking or swimming can help reduce pain and maintain some mobility. For most of you, avoid activities that cause excessive bending, twisting, or heavy lifting, and focus on movements that keep your spine neutral or slightly extended.
This is generally true for you if you feel a little worse with sitting and bending.

2. Incorporate Gentle Stretching
Focus on stretching exercises that relieve tension in the lower back and surrounding muscles. Child's pose, cat-cow, and the prone press-up stretch can not only help maintain flexibility, they will likely ease the pressure of the disc on the spine and surround nerve roots. If possible, work into a direction to change any leg pain or overall decrease pain intensity. This is a VERY important step

3. Return to light strengthening
There is no evidence that strengthening your "core" will fix your bad disc. However, being strong in your entire body will support your spine and help to minimize the stress on your spine. Your spine is made to be strong and flexible at the same time. Body weight movements like squats, bridges, and bird dogs are a good place to start

4. Use Proper Posture and Body Mechanics
Being mindful of your posture throughout the day is essential. When sitting, maintain a slight extension or curve in the spine by placing a rolled towel or lumbar support behind your lower back.

Movement is key to promoting healing, but it’s crucial to listen to your body and avoid any movement that increases pain in to the arm or leg that remains or increases pain beyond a level that is tolerable. Regularly incorporating these safe and gentle strategies can aid recovery from a herniated disc.

If you're at all uncertain or fearful on how to navigate through this issue or would like some specific one-on-one guidance, we can set up a Free call and video assessment....Just message me directly the word "DISC"

These two diagnoses are often seen together on an image like an MRI or X-ray. While they often go together, there are so...
09/10/2024

These two diagnoses are often seen together on an image like an MRI or X-ray.

While they often go together, there are some difference and things you should know about the two.

Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) is NOT actually a disease at all. It is just a term for naturally occurring age related changes to the spine and surrounding structures.

This "diagnosis" often prompts more fear and confusion than help. This should be considered normal for people as we age but it is different for each person and has genetic, prior injury, health, and environmental factors that can speed its progression.

Actual injuries to the disc, Disc Bulge or Disc Herniation, are much more likely to be a pain producing finding but that is NOT always true.

There are examples of many scans that look very bad but that person does NOT have any symptoms. So just because they are present, does not mean they are a problem.

However, if you take a good history and objective exam, the pain you're feeling from your hip down to your calf or from the side of your neck down to the forearm is likely DUE to the disc injury putting pressure on a nerve root and the scan helps to correlate that.

The bottom line is these pains and problems are LIKELY fixable with conservative treatment and RARELY require a surgery.

If you'd like learn more about how to resolve this problem and safely return to fitness, message me directly or set up a call here.
https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/bookings/20minimpactcall

This might be the most damaging message a person can hear. As we move through life and age, we will have some intermitte...
08/27/2024

This might be the most damaging message a person can hear.

As we move through life and age, we will have some intermittent pain in our bodies. This is normal and not all pains should be considered a negative or red light, especially if that pain is intermittent.

A person can be strong and confident and have some pain...
OR
A person can be weak and fearful and have some pain...

💥 Your MRI Report Doesn’t Determine Your Rehab!❌ Every day I get sent the same question….. “Hey Chris, my MRI said xyz…....
08/13/2024

💥 Your MRI Report Doesn’t Determine Your Rehab!

❌ Every day I get sent the same question….. “Hey Chris, my MRI said xyz…. What exercises should I do?”

The answer?

I HAVE NO IDEA!.....Just based off a picture

It doesn’t work that way, and never will!

🔑 The key here is understanding that a proper rehab plan is always based on your bodies symptom response and changes in mechanics, meaning that after proper movement, load testing, and programming your plan should be tailored to what exercises or movements are working for you. Which ones actually move and change your pain and symptoms.

And what exercises or movements you should NOT be doing.

Remember, there are no "GOOD" or "BAD" exercises. Only the right and wrong ones for you and that can change over time.

If certain exercises work, then you explore that route further. If they don’t, then you go another route. It’s that simple!

But determining whether or not certain movements, end-ranges, and exercises will work is what takes professional guidance and experience.

Do not guess based on MRI findings. That's what you're getting when the doctor or staff PT at the Doctors office gives you a generalized packet of exercises.

You need to have a proper plan with proper guidance and you will get pain-free!

✅ Want to learn how to fix your spine or disc problem for life? DM me the word “pain” and we will set up a free call to assess this and get you the right first movement!

Join our Facebook group “Exercises and Treatment for Herniated Disc, Sciatica, and Pinched Nerves” for more exclusive instructional videos on how to defeat your disc injury!
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Omaha, NE

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