Many people find relief from pain through chiropractic, for those that cannot under normal circumstances find this relief that others are fortunate to experience they may consider manipulation under anesthesia.
Manipulation under anesthesia is utilized when patients do not respond to normal treatment, or cannot tolerate that may be pain associated with the treatment due to their condition.
In a process designed to break up adhesions and scar tissue in the spine and local tissues, a combination of specified manipulation specific of short-lever, passive stretching and specific citing of weight bearing kinesthetic maneuvers are used in spinal manipulation under anesthesia.
Differing levels of anesthesia There are three different methods of anesthesia used for this procedure, the first, the least "invasive", involves manipulation after the patient has had certain anesthetic solutions injected into specific regions and tissues of the spine.
During this type of treatment the patient is awake and alert as normal, but the area (s) being manipulated are in effect numbed so as to not cause the patient discomfort during the procedure.
You may have heard of this type of anesthesia being referred to as a "local" or "local anesthesia" which means that it is confined to a specific area.
The second method of anesthesia used during this procedure is mild sedation.
The patient is sedated but awake, this state of sedation causes the patient to be relaxed and to feel less discomfort, if any, during the procedure.
This method of treatment may be utilized with the aforementioned local anesthetic method.
This method is slightly more invasive than the first as the patient would not be allowed to drive themselves home after the treatment and so would need to bring a friend or family to help them after the treatment.
The next method of treatment involves general anesthesia where the patient is put completely "under" or unconscious.
This method is used for the more advanced levels of treatment where the patient would not be able to tolerate the pain associated with the treatment due to their advanced condition.
Only licensed specialists perform this treatment in a hospital or surgery center.
This type of treatment requires special practice, training, and certification.
Choreographed Teamwork Rather than just the one person performing the treatment as you may be accustomed to with normal chiropractic adjustment, manipulation under anesthesia requires a team of three.
There is an anesthesiologist, a main or "prime" physician/surgeon/chiropractor specially trained in this procedure and finally, an assistant physician/chiropractor that is also trained in this specialty procedure.
This method of treatment has been practiced for about sixty years and is a recognized treatment by the American Medical Association.
Candidates for this type of treatment would be those that do not respond to traditional chiropractic treatment due to scarring in the tissue and/or adhesions surrounding the spine due to injury.
This treatment may be used in conjunction with physical therapy and surgery or both.
Candidates for this procedure would have had prior treatment for periods of six to eight weeks without response.
As with other procedures, success varies with the individual, but many have found relief through this method.