Spinal decompression therapy is designed to relieve back pain, which as a result, heals your entire body. The central nervous system in the spine impacts several other systems in the body and plays an important role in your overall health and well-being.
Spinal decompression is done by having a chiropractor gently stretch the spine and adjust it to its proper position after injury.
Traction and relaxation relieve pressure in a misaligned spine by creating a negative pressure within the spinal discs, allowing an injury to heal naturally. Electrical stimulation, ultrasound, hot/cold therapy and cold laser may also be used in the treatment.
When you arrive to your first chiropractic consultation, it will be important to bring the results from past physical examinations, such as an X-ray, so that your physician can better understand your treatment and as a result, better understand how to treat the injury.
The chiropractor will most likely ask you about your medical history and perform another physical exam to pinpoint the injury.
How Spinal Decompression Affects Your Body
During the session with the chiropractor, the patient will lay down on a motorized traction table, fully clothed. They may face up or down depending on their injury.
A harness attached to the end of the table will go around the patient’s hips and the upper body will stay in place. As the lower part of the table moves, the patient’s lower body that it harnessed in, will move with the table. The back and forth movement provides the necessary traction and relaxation.
The individual visits last around 45 minutes, and the total number of sessions ranges from 15 to 30 over a 4 to 6 week period of time. This length of treatment depends on your specific needs and goals for your injury.
The results of this treatment are quite dramatic. A study done by ChiroEffect Chiropractic in Portage Michigan found that 90% of their patients reported at least a 70% improvement after this treatment.
Clearly, this treatment is highly effective in greatly reducing pain so you can get back to living a normal, healthy life.
The best part about this treatment is that it gets you back to being healthy without heavy use of painkillers or the risks that come with surgery. Spinal decompression therapy allows your body’s natural healing process to happen, just as all chiropractic treatment does.
It is also important to note that this therapy is completely pain free, and will leave you feeling extremely relaxed.
How Spinal Decompression Therapy Heals You
Through stretching and changing of the positions of the spine, the pressure on the spine from pain or injury is released. This promotes the flow of water, oxygen, and other important nutrients in your blood to move easily through your body and acts as a catalyst in healing.
In releasing pressure off your spine, you are inevitably ridding of pain, numbness, and weakness throughout your entire body. This treatment is critically important for patients that are in chronic pain, as many conditions can be traced back to problems in the spine.
The treatment also includes different phases that ensure you will stay healed and healthy. The decompression is often followed by a second phase in which rehabilitation is used to help strengthen your back.
Rehab involves exercises that work with the muscles that support your spine to ensure that it does not become misaligned again in the future. It also helps to reduce inflammation and further assist the healing process.
There are specific injuries that this therapy is used to heal. These conditions includes back or neck pain, sciatica, herniated discs, posterior facet syndrome (worn joints), or nerve injuries.
For sciatica, spinal decompression is the best treatment for you if this condition is the result of a herniated disc, spinal arthritis, or injury to the nerve. Once pressure is relieved off of the nerves from the bulging discs pinching them, inflammation is reduced.
In the case of herniated discs, the bulging or herniated may retract back into the disc and therefore pressure is taken off of your nerves. This is specifically done through the negative pressure that creates a vacuum like effect. When the disc is in its proper place, the outer part of the spine and the nerves that were pinched can begin to heal as well.
It heals facet syndrome by reducing the stress on the joint complex that it caused due to bone damage. Without the stress on the joints, the deterioration caused by the pain is slowed down so that the body can begin to heal.
As stated earlier, however, spinal decompression is only used for specific injuries. You should not use spinal decompression therapy if you are pregnant, have a broken vertebrae, have had a spinal infusion, have had a failed back surgery, or artificial discs or spinal implants. Other conditions that would rule out this therapy are people with spinal tumors or infections.
Visit A Chiropractor Today
If you are experiencing chronic pain due to injuries in your spine, spinal decompression therapy with chiropractic care is the best—and safest—option for you.
Chiropractic care is centered around the idea that the back plays a pivotal role in your overall help.
Pain due to injury is debilitating in more way than one. You can feel physically stressed and emotionally too. It can become hard to complete the simplest of tasks when you are hurt, and injury often stands in the way of doing your job, walking your dog, or even spending time with loved ones.
It is easy for pain to consume your life– but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Spinal decompression opens up the spine and opens up your life to a new healthy self.
Spinal treatments are a catalyst in well being. Studies show that pain takes up a lot of energy, therefore when you are healed you can apply this new energy to the things that matter most to you in life.
Call 513-247-9045 to schedule a visit with your local Montgomery chiropractor, Dr. Scanlon.