Spinal decompression therapy is a revolutionary non-surgical computer-aided chiropractic procedure technology, painless that offers natural pain relief performed on a traction table connected to a computer and monitor.
WHAT IS SPINAL DECOMPRESSION THERAPY?
WHAT HAPPENS DURING A SPINAL DECOMPRESSION THERAPY SESSION?
During the treatment session, the spine is gently stretched and relaxed at intervals using controlled traction-distraction force.
At the beginning of each session, you will be comfortably fitted with a harness designed to achieve optimal decompression of the low back or neck. During a session of spinal decompression, you will notice a slow lengthening of your spine as your discs are gradually decompressed and relieved of pressure. The treatment process is safe and relaxing.
Decompression therapy works by creating a negative pressure within the discs which helps restore the bulging or herniated disc material back into the disc. Decompressing the spine provides pain relief by taking pressure off affected discs, joints, bones, nerves, and soft tissues, such as muscles and connective tissue. Spinal decompression therapy provides natural pain relief by reducing the amount of pressure on the spine.
A patient safety switch provides an extra safety feature, allowing you to stop at any point should you feel discomfort. Each treatment session lasts approximately 30 minutes. Furthermore, Spinal decompression therapy allows to decrease the risk and suffering the severe side effects of pain medication.
IT’S SPINAL DECOMPRESSION THERAPY SAFE?
Spinal Decompression Therapy is FDA-approved and clinically proven to have a very high success rate. Overall Spinal Decompression Therapy is considered safe and comfortable. The system has emergency stop switches for both the patient and the operator. These switches terminate the treatment immediately if a patient experiences any increase in pain or discomfort during the treatment thereby avoiding most injuries.
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM SPINAL DECOMPRESSION THERAPY?
Doctors have used nonsurgical spinal decompression to help patients who suffer from:
- Back or neck pain or sciatica, which is pain, weakness, or tingling that extends down the leg
- Degenerative disk disease
- Worn spinal joints (called posterior facet syndrome)
- Injured or diseased spinal nerve roots
- Herniated Discs, Bulging Discs
- Pinched Nerves, Sciatica
- Degenerative Discs, Spinal Stenosis
- Injured or diseased spinal nerve roots
- Sciatica, which is pain, weakness, or tingling that extends down the leg
- Posterior facet syndrome (called Worn spinal joints)
- Chronic lower back or neck pain
- Muscle atrophy and weakness
- Sciatica pain (in one or lower extremities)
- Radiating nerve pain
- Tingling and numbness in the extremities
HOW MANY SESSIONS WOULD I NEED?
After your first evaluation, your chiropractor will tell you how many sessions you would need. Every patient and every case is different.
Most spinal decompression patients will need to come in for a treatment 3 times a week for 1 month, transitioning from passive to active treatments as you respond, with most patients feeling pain relief with as few as 6-10 treatments.
Most patients still receive dramatic pain relief in 4 to 6 weeks of spinal decompression, depending on each case.
After 8 weeks of spinal decompression therapy, most patients are released. For most patients, we combine spinal decompression with an exercise program that targets the function of the stabilization ligaments, tendons, and muscles.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SPINAL DECOMPRESSION THERAPY?
- Is a non-invasive treatment that doesn’t require any medication.
- Isn’t very time-consuming.
- It may also get fast results and many patients experience pain relief after on their first’s couples of sessions.
- The result is much faster than any kind of spinal surgery and it doesn’t have the recovery time associated with surgery either.
Instead of simply covering up the pain with pain medication, spinal decompression provides natural pain relief by reducing the amount of pressure on the spine. This means that back pain isn’t just covered up for the time a pill lasts, it’s eradicated by dealing with the source of the issue. Not having to worry about addictive painkillers or side effects is one of the major benefits of spinal decompression therapy.
WHO SHOULDN’T HAVE SPINAL DECOMPRESSION THERAPY?
While spinal decompression therapy works for many people. However, it isn’t a good fit for:
- Hardware in the spine such as screws and rods
- Spinal implant, or patients who have had spinal fusion or a failed back surgery
- Patients younger than 18 years old
- During Pregnancy
- Prior lumbar fusion less than six months old
- Metastatic cancer (cancer that has spread to the bones)
- Grade 3 and 4 spondylolisthesis
- Recent compression fracture of the lumbar spine
- Pathologic aortic aneurysm
- Pelvic or abdominal cancer
- Disc space infection
- Custom orthotics
ARE THERE ANY SIDE EFFECTS TO THE TREATMENT?
Most patients do not experience any major side effects. The most common side effect is a dull, achy soreness for the first week or two as the body becomes accustomed to being stretched and decompressed. Spinal decompression stretches muscles in a lengthening direction which the body is generally not used to. Because of this patients may experience a dull, achy soreness they often describe as “it feels like I just worked out for the first time in a long time.” Very rarely patients have an increase in the pain that they came in with.
Patients with acute, severe disc herniation may experience some pain during the first week or two until the herniation retracts back in taking pressure off of the nerves. Acute disc herniation patients tend to experience more “up and down” types of relief from their pain for the first 2 weeks as an acute disc herniation can be slightly unpredictable. Regardless of the mild soreness experienced in the first week or two, most patients experience 50% relief or more of their pain around the end of the second week.
CAN SPINAL DECOMPRESSION BE USED FOR PATIENTS THAT HAVE HAD SPINAL SURGERY?
In many cases, Spinal Decompression treatment is not contra-indicated (withheld due to the harm that it would cause the patient) for patients that have had spinal surgery. In fact, many patients have found success with Spinal Decompression even after a failed back surgery. After a failed Laminectomy or Micro Discectomy patients may still respond favorably to spinal decompression. If a patient has had more than 3 laminectomies then the success rate of spinal decompression will go down. If a patient has had surgical fusion with rods or screws or any type of hardware then patients does not qualify for spinal decompression. Always consult your spinal decompression specialist to see if you qualify for spinal decompression therapy.