Chapter 1426: Not a Protrusion?

Chapter 1426: Chapter 1426: Not a Protrusion?

"Quick, help us take a look and find out what’s going on."

After more than an hour, Wang Xiaoyan returned with the patient.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Let me pull it up first," Liu Banxia said.

"It’s not very serious. Actually, it’s just a little bit. But for the sake of caution, we went for a CT scan," Liu Banxia said.

"Let’s take a look first at what’s going on with the lumbar vertebrae. Hmm... indeed, you see here, between the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae, there’s a little protrusion, right?"

Wang Xiaoyan and the girl nodded. Anyway, there was a bit of a protrusion where Liu Banxia was pointing.

"In your case, there’s a possibility that the protruding part is compressing the sciatic nerve, which can cause sciatica. There might be pain in the buttocks, the back and outer side of the thigh, the outer side of the calf, and even the heel," Liu Banxia continued.

"Yes, yes, that’s it, but it’s not very obvious. I thought it wasn’t a symptom," the girl said, nodding vigorously.

"Also, sometimes when I turn my back left and right, I feel pain. Is this condition very serious?"

"If it continues to develop, it will become very serious," Liu Banxia said.

"But at the moment, it’s still manageable. It’s a bulging type. It means your annulus fibrosus is partially damaged, but the surface is still intact."

"The nucleus pulposus in this state protrudes into the spinal canal due to pressure, but the surface is smooth. So your pain isn’t very apparent or severe, and conservative treatment will suffice."

"Director Liu, what medicine should I take?" the girl asked anxiously.

"For this condition, although medication can assist, you should consider physical therapy," Liu Banxia said.

"The basic plan is absolute bed rest for at least three weeks. After three weeks, you should do suitable traction, and you cannot bend your waist."

"That long? I might not have that much leave," the girl said.

"Actually, the leave isn’t the most important thing. You might not have understood what I just said," Liu Banxia said.

"What I just mentioned was absolute bed rest. What does it mean? It means you’ll have to eat, drink, and excrete while lying in bed for three weeks. Absolute means, no matter what situation you encounter, you have to stay in bed."

"Oh my gosh, like that?" Wang Xiaoyan asked in surprise.

"Exactly, otherwise how could it be called absolute bed rest?" Liu Banxia retorted.

"This way your lumbar joints can recover. It’s the simplest treatment method, but it’s quite challenging, which is why there’s the traction to complement it."

"But if I didn’t tell you about this treatment, I’d be irresponsible. What if it can be done? Traction can be quite tough, although not as long."

"Oh Director Liu, can’t you give her a massage? Aren’t you skilled in chiropractic? A girl, who will help her eat, drink, and excrete?" Wang Xiaoyan said.

The girl nodded vigorously too. Even if her parents took care of her, it wouldn’t feel right.

"Chiropractic massage, although it has some effect, is still an indirect treatment method," Liu Banxia said.

"I’ll give you a massage in a bit. It can somewhat alleviate muscle spasms around the waist and reduce pressure on the intervertebral disc. But traction is still needed; it’s the most reliable method currently."

"For medication, you could consider glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate, but these are injected into the lumbar disc, which isn’t very comfortable."

"Though I’m smiling as I say this, it’s because your condition isn’t very severe now. But if you’re not careful, you’ll only be able to treat it with surgery in the future."

"In daily life, you should pay more attention. Mind your posture while working, and your bed should be a bit hard. Regularly stretch and straighten your back, and avoid using waist trainers for shaping as much as possible. Focus on lumbar muscle exercises."

"Okay, okay, I’ll definitely pay attention," the girl quickly said.

After saying this, she looked eagerly at Liu Banxia.

Earlier, Wang Xiaoyan had been promoting for quite a while, saying Liu Banxia’s massages were great, and what she had wasn’t even a condition, and would feel better with a massage from Liu Banxia.

"Lie on the bed, and I’ll give you a massage first. Then I’ll call the orthopedic colleagues to start your traction," Liu Banxia said.

"But since you already have symptoms, try to minimize bending your back as much as possible. Avoiding it is best, for your body’s sake."

This is also a quite challenging precaution. In normal life, not bending the back is difficult too.

At the very least, when you use the bathroom, you need to wipe yourself, right? Naturally, you’d bend your back a bit. You can only try to avoid it as much as possible; not bending at all for three months isn’t very realistic either.

For this chiropractic session, Liu Banxia’s technique was very gentle.

This method addresses the symptoms, it only relieves her lumbar muscle spasms but won’t fundamentally improve the condition.

I estimate the girl’s recent exercise has been somewhat intense, leading to this situation now. But this is not a problem, it hasn’t reached the point where surgery is needed.

As long as she doesn’t put too much pressure on the spine, conservative treatment will have a nice effect. Anyway, I don’t recommend medication; the risk of intraspinal injection is still pretty high.

"Wow, it’s really effective, after just a few presses, I feel a lot more relaxed," the girl said.

"This is only temporary relief, don’t think you can just rely on massage," Liu Banxia said.

"But you can indeed find some authentic massage studios for a session, choose a gentle method, and avoid those trendy shops with violent massages, that would worsen the impact on the spinal canal."

"In everyday life, don’t carry too much weight, the activity space for the spinal joints is only so large, when the pressure of two joints comes together, it could put you under more pressure."

"This condition requires nurturing, take good care of it, and it will slowly alleviate. Let me massage you a bit more, and then do some traction. The traction therapy needs to be advised by an orthopedic doctor, I’m a bit lacking in this area."

"I already feel much better now, otherwise my waist always has this wrinkled pain," the girl said.

"Didn’t I say? My friend may love to play around, but she really has fine taste in choosing a husband," Wang Xiaoyan said.

"You have to listen to what he says, cut down on activities lately and focus on rest. You’re still young, your health is what’s most important, everything else is secondary."

"Sister Yanzi, actually when I do yoga at your place, maybe it’s because my muscles relax, it feels a bit looser," the patient said.

"That’s quite possible, after all, your condition isn’t too severe now," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"But remember all the things I just told you, try to follow them. I don’t expect you can do everything, the difficulty level is too high."

"Totally, especially the three weeks of absolute bed rest. That’s not treatment, that’s torture, worse than being punished, I can’t handle it," the girl said.

"You’re saying so now, but when your condition worsens, it won’t seem so bad anymore," Liu Banxia said.

"Our bodies seem strong but are actually fragile. Maintain good lifestyle habits for a healthy body, that’s where the future lies."

"I don’t even need to ask, you must stay up late regularly. That’s unhealthy living, not giving your body ample repair time."

"I won’t do it anymore, I’ll obediently go to bed at ten, won’t go out to play, I must take care of my waist," the girl said.

"Director Liu, aren’t you quite amazing? From the x-ray, it seems just a little bit off and you can detect it?"

"I’m alright, actually once you familiarize yourself with the lumbar joint, if you pay some attention you can detect it," Liu Banxia said.

"Not as magical as you imagine; in fact, if you asked me about lipstick shades, I’d be lost. Qiaoqiao often asks me, but she looks good in any lipstick, how could I choose?"

"Wow, isn’t that cheesy? Qiaoqiao isn’t even here," Wang Xiaoyan said with exasperation.

"I’ve had a rough time lately, if I weren’t a godmother of two kids, I wouldn’t get close to you guys. It’s just relentless stimulation every day."

"Haha, that’s how it goes; those two little ones like you so much," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"Qing Kewa went back; the next visit will be during the Spring Festival. Are you planning to accompany Qiaoqiao for a trip? It’s all expense-paid for train tickets."

"You two are so sneaky, trying to find a free babysitter, why not just say it outright?" Wang Xiaoyan said helplessly.

"That’s not good, it’s meant for you to have fun, and bring kids along," Liu Banxia said.

"But my mom will come too, they can take care of the kids well. I’m just unsure when I can go over, it’s a bit distressing."

"The second baby is so well-behaved now, not as troublesome as before. I’ll see about it, even if the travel expenses are reimbursed, it will still be tiring for me," Wang Xiaoyan said.

"Listening to you guys talk is so interesting, was it Sister Qiaoqiao who played last time?" the girl asked curiously.

"It’s her, showing off the kids," Wang Xiaoyan said.

"In this regard, I really can’t compete with her, many people have been affected. Those two little ones are so adorable."

"Alright, the massage is good enough now. I’ll call someone from orthopedics to take you for pelvic traction, it may be slightly uncomfortable, but not mortally distressing," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"Thank you, Director Liu, now I can rest better, wake up tomorrow without that tight feeling," the patient said casually.

Upon hearing his words, Liu Banxia furrowed his brow. There’s a chance it’s not the lumbar disc protrusion.