Over the years I have dealt with 1000’s of people struggling with chronic low back pain. For so many the pain is due to bulging, herniated or degenerated discs. Accompanying this back pain is often leg pain. Many times these clients have tried numerous therapies and treatments to resolve their chronic pain and found no relief. This becomes frustrating for the client and often effects their quality of life.
Bulging / herniated discs are notoriously stubborn to treat and it is for this reason why Transform Wellness in Epsom invested in Non-Surgical Spinal decompression therapy. This treatment alongside chiropractic care and rehabilitation is showing to be hugely successful as a treatment for these conditions. Spinal decompression is a therapy designed with the goal of alleviating pain and promoting healing of the intervertebral discs. It’s recommended for sufferers of many types of back pain, neck pain and arm/leg pain, tingling and numbness associated with spinal nerve irritation.
How spinal decompression works
In a nutshell, spinal decompression stretches the spine to decompress the disc in the neck or low back. The device stretches and relaxes the spine intermittently in a controlled fashion. The treatment offers different treatment protocols that are programmed accordingly to the case of the client.
The understanding behind this approach is that by creating a negative pressure within the disc itself, a couple of things can happen.
First, the process can retract or reposition the herniated or bulging disc material back into the disc. Secondly, it can promote the influx of healing nutrients into the disc, which will foster a better environment for healing to occur. Finally it mechanically takes pressure off trapped nerves.
This image shows a pre and post MRI image of a herniated lumbar disc.
A typical decompression treatment
During the therapy, patients lie on our decompression table (either face up or face down, depending on the area of treatment and patient comfort). For the low back, a harness is placed around the hips and is attached to the foot side of the equipment. The lower half of the table slides back and forth with a setting of a calculated number pounds of force while the upper portion remains fixed, creating an alternating axial decompression and rest. For the neck, the patient rests their head in a comfortable neck cradle while a specific number of pounds of pressure pulls the head and neck gently alternating between axial decompression and rest. A typical spinal decompression treatment protocol consists of about 12-20 sessions over 4 – 8 weeks. Some conditions require fewer visits, some require more. Many patients report relief from their pain and other symptoms during the first few treatment sessions, and most experience dramatic pain relief after completion of their prescribed treatment program.
Many of my patients wonder if this process is painful. The answer is no. If you are having spinal decompression therapy, you should feel no pain during or after the treatment and only a stretching sensation in the spine. Like many treatment options, non-surgical spinal decompression will not work for everyone. Certain groups of people, such as pregnant women or those with metal hardware in the area of treatment, it’s not an option. However, for those who qualify and have the right pain condition to respond to spinal decompression, it can be the pain relief answer they’ve been looking for!
If spinal decompression is an approach you’d like to consider for relieving your pain condition, please contact us. Schedule a free consultation to see if you are a candidate for decompression. If I think it’s a good fit and will benefit you, we’ll work together to assemble a treatment plan.
