Spinal Decompression Therapy
What is Spinal Decompression?
Spinal Decompression is a non-surgical and drug-free answer for disc related problems of the lumbar or cervical spine. Many people across the country and around the world have found relief from the pain associated with herniated discs, bulging discs, facet syndrome, degenerative joint disease, pinched nerves, and other spinal afflictions from decompression therapy. Spinal Disc Decompression uses computer-aided technology to apply gentle, non-surgical decompression to your spine which increases circulation into the spinal discs and joints, thus helping to relieve the symptoms that cause pain and dysfunction.
What conditions does Spinal Decompression treat?
Do you have a herniated disc, multiple herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, facet syndrome, or any other type of spinal problem? Is your doctor suggesting surgery, Pain Management, or Physical Therapy? Have you tried traditional Chiropractic and just could not get enough relief? You may be a candidate for non-surgical spinal decompression. Spinal Decompression is very effective at treating bulging discs, herniated discs, pinched nerves, sciatica, radiating arm pain, headaches, degenerative disc disease and facet syndrome.
What will I feel?
Spinal Decompression feels great!
For your low back, you will be lying comfortably on your back with a set of nicely padded straps snug around your waist and another set around your lower chest. For your neck, you will be lying comfortably on your back with a padded strap behind your neck.
The computerized system will slowly pull on this unit with a force of just a few pounds. It holds traction on your spine for about 30 seconds. Your body, in essence, says, “Well, that’s gentle,” so the muscles around your spine are able to relax. Then it pulls a little more, then a little more, until the software gets to the full amount of pull. Following this, the system will slowly release in the same way allowing your body to readjust gently and safely.
How does Spinal Decompression work?
The pumping action described above does two amazing things:
- it gently separates the vertebrae (spinal bones) from each other, creating a vacuum inside the discs that we are targeting. This vacuum begins to suck the bulges or herniations back into the inside of the disc, and off of your nerve. It happens only microscopically each time, but cumulatively the results are quite dramatic.
- secondly, this pumping action pumps nutrient- rich fluids from the outside of the discs to the inside. These nutrients enable the torn and degenerated disc fibers to begin to heal and return to a more normal state. Only a few years ago, it was thought that once a disc was degenerated, there was nothing you could do. Now we routinely see discs gain one to two millimeters of sustained increased disc height. While this may not seem like much, it can make all the difference in the world for your nerves.
How long does it take?
Every patient is different and has a treatment plan tailored specifically to his or her condition. Treatments are more frequent at the beginning and then taper off as the spine begins to stabilize. Many patients report significant improvements with as little as 6-8 visits. Some even report feeling improvements after just one.
What if it doesn’t work or I’m not a candidate for this kind of treatment?
We pride ourselves on doing what is best for our patients. If I do not think that spinal decompression is the best option for you we will discuss what may be available and find what will work best for you. Sometimes patients wait too long to seek treatment and Spinal Decompression is no longer a viable option. For some conditions we may refer to a medical provider to discuss other options available. Again we want to do what is best for our patients.
How is Spinal Decompression different from standard traction or an inversion table?
Spinal Decompression is a modified, updated form of traction. Computer technology is used to control variations in the unloading of the spine, effectively avoiding the body's muscle contraction response. The doctor can control how many progressive tension steps are experienced by the patient before reaching the maximum tension. The doctor also has complete control over how long the tensions are held steady and how often they are repeated.
Because Spinal Decompression avoids the muscle contraction response as you would experience in standard traction, the intradiscal pressure is actually lowered to the point of being a vacuum, creating a negative pressure. This vacuum is what allows herniated material to be drawn back into place and permits rehydration of the disc. Once the herniated material is not in contact with the nerves and the disc is in good health, pain is relieved. Spinal decompression is different from traction because it works. (Decompression, Reduction and Stabilization of the Lumbar Spine: A Cost-Effective Treatment for Lumbosacral Pain C. Norman Shealy, MD, PhD, and Vera Borgmeyer, RN, MA American Journal of Pain Management Vol. 7 No. 2 April 1997 Emerging Technologies: Preliminary Findings)
Is there any research on the effectiveness of Spinal Decompression?
Absolutely! There are numerous resources available for your reading.
Eyerman,E: MRI Evidence of Nonsurgical, Mechanical Reduction, Rehydration and Repair of the Herniated Lumbar Disc. Jounal of Neuroimaging, 1998, 8(2)
Intro: Standard pelvic traction has been unsatisfactory in relieving sufferers with herniated lumbar discs and radiculapathy achieving, at best, about 25% effectiveness with little in trhe way of imaging change int he status of the disc. A new mechanical distraction system, the decompression reduction and stabilization system (DRS), was described by Dr. Norman Shealy (1) to give 50% improved outcome over conventional treatment with standard pelvic traction. Seventy- five percent of subjects improved clinically, and in one case an L5/S1 disc herniation on mid- sagittal MRI was shown to have a 50% reduction in size of the herniation after 20 distraction treatments. During distraction a 7mm separation of the L5 from the S1 vertebral body was demonstrated (2).
O'Hara, Karen: Decompression: a treatment for back pain. Occupational Medicine, 2004 Oct, 11(10)
Outcomes:
Recent clinical research has shown that 86 percent of chronic back pain patients suffering from herniated or bulging discs, facet syndrome, and sciatica reported improvement with decompression therapy. Most back pain patients who undergo decompression therapy, including those who are long-term chronic or post-surgical cases, are able to resume normal activities. Patients not showing significant improvement by the 15th to 18th session may be referred for further diagnostic evaluation.
Effectiveness varies from patient to patient.