Do Annular Fibers Heal?

This is a great question that I hear all the time. It’s one that people hear so much different advice on. So do annular fibers heal?  The Answer…

YES

But often not the typical way that you think that they would. Research shows clearly that for all essential purposes the disc is an avascular structure (there is some very limited blood supply) and it’s the lack of blood supply that makes it so difficult for the disc to heal.

Research by Osti and the “Volvo Award-Annual Tears & Disc Degeneration” shows this phenomenon quite clearly. Typically it’s the outer 1/3 of the disc that heals with this scar tissue. It’s that  nature that prevents the disc from fully healing in many cases (or the inner 2/3rds). That’s what I tell all the patients that I deal with that have already had surgery (about half the patients I work with). It’s not that the surgery didn’t work, it did in most cases. It just never healed right from the lack of vascularization, and it’s not that the inner part of the disc cannot heal. It can… the research shows that it’s just really tough to do.  Now here’s where what we do is so different. By addressing the lack of movement that occurs, and making that our focus with decompression we can have excellent clinic results as well as fairly consistent pre and post MRI changes.

Research has shown that by creating a negative pressure into the disc (similiar to sticking an empty turkey baster that has its bulb squeezed down into liquid and then releasing the bulb…and therefore sucking up the liquid) water can then be pulled into the disc. It is theorized that this negative pressure and hydration also helps the healing process of the disc, making the scar tissue more effective. It is an amazing process by which your body can heal, and it’s amazing to see on a daily basis.

So, what’s the time frame of healing for these fibers? Well, research has shown that a disc can heal on it’s own. In fact I tell patients that research shows that you can wait for up to 6 months, and 1/2 of those people will heal on their own, the other half will require some sort of treatment. Of course when you are 10/10 pain even with medication it makes it pretty daunting to wait, and you can most certainly seek intervention long before those 6 months. But in general you can expect that once you get some healing occurring that it can be up to 18 months before the full process is completed.

So next time you hear about annular tears and you think all is lost…Think again! There’s hope, and still plently of options left on the table, even if you have already had surgery.

Check out more at www.SpinalDecompressionOfMn.com or call (651) 255-2527 for a complimentary consultation.

“Is That My Annular Fibers Tearing?”