Damaged, degenerative, bulging, herniated and ruptured spinal discs are among the most common causes of lower back pain, leg pain, leg numbness or weakness, neck pain, arm pain, and arm numbness or weakness. It’s a medical fact that damaged discs, which bulge or protrude as a result, seldom retract on their own because they are always subject to gravity and are under constant internal pressure.
At Martin Chiropractic Clinic, many patients are recovering more quickly and more completely than previously possible using Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression Therapy. This exciting new therapy relieves pressure on vital structures of the spine by reducing pressure inside the discs. In many cases this allows the body to actually repair some of the damage inside the discs and other joints of the spine. Previously, treatments were only aimed at relieving pain & getting things to heal. This means that many patients have been able to return to a more active lifestyle than they had previously imagined.
WHY WE NEED HEALTHY SPINAL DISCS
The bones of the spine (vertebrae) are separated and cushioned from one another by highly specialized tissues called discs, which vary in thickness between one eighth inch in the neck and just under one-half inch in the low back. Discs help form windows between vertebrae so spinal nerves can exit, fan out, and serve all areas and organs of the body with vital nerve energy. Discs let the spine bend in daily living while they absorb the everyday knocks, shocks, and bumps to the spine — similar to the way an automobile tire constantly “gives” and recovers while running on a bumpy road.
DISC’S UNIQUE STRUCTURE
It is the disc’s structure — a tough outer wall surrounding a gel-like core — that allows the disc to “bounce back” repeatedly.
The wall is made up of layers of elastic tissues, crisscrossed for strength like an auto tire. This wall encases the disc’s core.
The gel-like core is under considerable internal pressure. This gives the disc most of its “bounce” much like an inflated tire. Unfortunately, the internal pressure also contributes to the disc’s own distress if the disc is damaged, herniates or ruptures.
Damaged discs seldom retract on their own because they are always subject to gravity and are under constant internal pressure!
PAIN FROM DISTRESSED DISCS
When a disc is damaged, herniates, bulges or ruptures and presses on spinal nerves, it can cause terrible back, neck, arm or leg pain, sometimes so intense it disables the victim. Patients commonly call the condition slipped disc or blown disc, although the correct medical term is Herniated Nucleus Pulposus.
SPINAL DECOMPRESSION TABLE IS SPECIFIC FOR DISC DISORDERS
Seldom do damaged spinal discs heal without proper treatment because the discs are constantly under the internal pressure that contributed to the disc problem in the first place. With state-of -the-art treatment using a Spinal Decompression Table as a treatment option, along with pain relief and healing, your body may be able to repair some of the damage produced by this constant pressure.
CAUSES OF DISC DISTRESS
- Some disc problems are caused by injury.
- Some result from repeated occupational stress over a period of time such as sitting or standing in a harmful way.
- Some disc problems develop very slowly through disc degeneration and thinning — a process so gradual as to establish the disc problem well before pain and other symptoms demand attention.
DECOMPRESSION THERAPY RELIEVES PAIN WHILE TREATING THE UNDERLYING CAUSE
Therapy on a Spinal Decompression Table creates negative pressures inside the herniated, bulging disc letting it retract naturally, thus relieving disc pressure on spinal nerves. This usually brings welcome relief from pain. Reducing pressure in the disc also reinstates the natural transfer of surrounding fluids, nutrients and oxygen into the disc, a process essential for disc health.
Tears in the disc’s wall can now repair themselves while nutrients introduced back into the disc’s nucleus can reverse the disc’s degeneration and its collapse, and restore disc height which relieves pressure on inflamed spinal joints.
During normal activities, the pressure inside the lumbar discs typically ranges between 100mm/HG to 300mm/HG
Spinal Disc Decompression can reduce the pressure inside the discs to approximately -150 mm/HG, shrinking disc herniations, and drawing in necessary fluids and nutrients.
SPINAL DECOMPRESSION TREATMENT
• Fully clothed, patient is comfortably positioned on the Disc-Decompression Table for a gentle computer-controlled tractioning procedure to reduce the disc’s internal pressure.
• A typical treatment session consists of 15 to 20 minutes of decompression often combined with chiropractic adjustments and 15 to 45 minutes of therapy such as low-level laser, complex electrical stimulation and exercise rehabilitation for a faster and longer lasting response.
• The process is painless, It is not uncommon for patients to fall asleep during treatment.
• Get relief of symptoms quickly. Many patients begin to get relief in as few as 6 to 10 sessions and patients generally fully recover in 25 to 40 sessions. The average recommendation is about 25 sessions, ideally done daily with a rest on weekends.
• At the conclusion of the treatment series, when the disc injury has been corrected, patients are continued on mobilization and strengthening exercises and periodically reevaluated to avoid repeat injury.
• After only a few weeks of treatment, research and our own clinical experience has shown outstanding results in relief from the debilitating pain caused by damaged, degenerative, bulging, herniated or ruptured discs, as well as sciatica, posterior facet syndrome, spinal stenosis, and some failed back surgery cases. Most patients are able to return to normal or even enhanced levels of activity at work or recreation in just a few weeks.
NONSURGICAL SPINAL DECOMPRESSION FACTS
Non-Surgical — safe and painless.
• Studies report that many patients reported good to excellent relief of their symptoms (as many as 86%).
• Works to repair damage and correct the underlying problem, not just relieve symptoms.
• Definite and circumscribed treatment period leading to recovery.
• Spinal Decompression is usually not covered by health insurance plans.
• Adjustments and other therapies used in conjunction usually are covered by health insurance plans.