DECOMPRESSION THERAPY
Spinal decompression therapy, also known as non-surgical spinal decompression, is a practice that utilizes spinal decompression tables to relieve pain by creating a scenario in which bulging or herniated disc tissue is able to move back into place and heal, alleviating the pain this condition causes. Therapy involves stretching the spine, using a traction table or similar device, with the goal of relieving back pain, leg pain, and neck pain caused by a herniated disc, bulging disc, or degenerated disc.
In essence, spinal decompression therapy uses the same basic idea of spinal traction. Both traction and decompression are utilized with the same purpose of relieving pain and optimizing the healing environment for bulging, degenerating, or herniated discs. (See our previous blog posts all about bulging discs!) The benefits of spinal decompression are achieved by creating space throughout the discs of the spine to encourage retraction and/or repositioning of herniated or bulging discs. Another way is by creating a lower pressure in the disc that will cause a surge of healing nutrients and blood flow into the discs. Spinal decompression was created with the goal in mind of alleviating pain and promoting healing of the inter-vertebral disc. Let’s look at four main reasons why patients seek out spinal compression:
Pain Relief - Compression has proven efficacy in relieving tension in tight, spasm-ing, or injured muscles to stimulate the nervous system to prompt your body to release it’s pain relieving chemicals in the body. Pain relief can be had in as little as 1 to 3 sessions!
Restore Spinal Disc and Joint Alignment - Stuff like stress, poor body functions, smoking, and other factors may cause joints to move out of place or herniate your discs. The force of decompression helps to realign joints and ciscs, in turn preventing further pain, inflammation, imapired mobility/dysfunction.
Relieves Pressure on Spinal Nerves - spinal nerves can become pinched when bones, discs, or other tissues crowd on small spaces in the spinal column. Decompression increases the space around the nerves allowing them to begin their healing process.
Aids in Other Spinal Treatments - decompression allows for you to get the most out of treating your spine and overall improving spinal health and function. It makes getting adjusted, and laser much more effective. and increases the
The length of treatment for patients is totally dependent on the individual’s specific condition aka how much pain there is, what x-rays reveal, and whether or not they’ve been treated before! Usually decompression treatments take about 8 or so sessions before patients start noticing the benefits, but in some cases it can be noticed right away! In other instances decompression patients won’t start noticing results until session 20 or so. Contrary to how intense stretching the spine sounds, most patients have expressed that it’s actually quite a relaxing experience. One of the reasons why decompression can be so beneficial is because of the high adaptability to the specific needs of the patient.
All in all, decompression can relieve pain and increase spinal health, and improves the efficacy of other spinal treatments, all while being a non invasive and natural modality. Decompression gets to the root of back pain and eradicating the source of dis-ease thus bringing true healing. A healthy spine supports a healthy body!
