What is Spinal Decompression?
Spinal decompression is a natural therapy that decreases the load on the spinal discs and vertebrae that are compressing spinal nerves. There are a few reasons why someone might need spinal decompression. As you age, your spine can begin to compress against the spinal disks creating decreased space choking the nerve supply coming out of the spine. Or an injury to the back may cause bulging or herniated disks or misalign in the spine creating pressure on the nerve root causing pain.
Over time, without corrective physical therapy and chiropractic treatments, the tissue dysfunction becomes more pronounced, causing excess wear and tear on the joints resulting in arthritis. Long term this can create a lot of pain, resulting in permanent spinal stenosis, in other words, narrowing between the spine where nerves are supposed to be free of pressure. This can also result in sciatica, arm numbness or radiating pain.
Patient on spinal decompression at Pure Health Medical.
Nonsurgical spinal decompression, while not applicable to all spinal compression conditions, can aid the patient by lying on a flat surface and gently stretching the body and back, easing pressure on bulging or herniated disks. The disks could retract back into alignment with the rest of the spine, relieving painful nerve pressure, promoting re-entry of needed fluids and air to regenerate the disks.
Typical spinal decompression sessions last between 15 to 20 minutes and, depending on your uniquely designed treatment plan, are scheduled over four to eight weeks. Other treatments you may receive are electrical stimulation, ultrasound, and heat or cold therapy and chiropractic adjustments. If you have any electrical implants, fractures, tumors, or advanced osteoporosis, you should tell your specialist first before trying spinal decompression treatments. This is usually taken care of, however, during your first assessment with the Biomechanical specialist.
Sciatica
Sciatica is similar to the pain occurring in spinal stenosis when the lower back is curved and pain radiates down into one leg, or both. A patient may experience varying degrees of pain, ranging from aches to sharp needle-like pricks, as well as numbing of the legs. They may have to rest often by sitting down or leaning on something to relieve the leg pressure.
For formerly active people, this can be very disturbing when going from fully active levels to barely being able to walk for more than 10 minutes before pain and numbness occurs. Exercises can be designed to do while lying down to strengthen muscles which could help with walking longer.
A chiropractic doctor can design corrective exercises to help with the pain and strengthening the muscles, as well as avoiding inappropriate muscular compensation. Chiropractic adjustment may help the vertebrae in the spine correctly plus giving spinal decompression longer lasting more permanent results.
Massage Therapy
Massage Therapy can also help with pain by lying flat while a massage therapist kneads out bunched-up muscles which tighten when there is pain. During the massage, the body relaxes, stretches longer, giving a patient the mini version of a decompression treatment. One of these sessions once a week can be very beneficial along with the exercises provided for strengthening.
In kinesiology therapy, taping is a process of discovering and pin-pointing weak areas in the body where more adjustments to the body are needed. Athletes or those who endure daily strenuous activities, benefit from such therapies as it helps realign the body back into its normal state.
How Does Arthritis Affect the Body?
Arthritis in any part of your body, can exacerbate joint pain and cause stiffness. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are the two most commonly addressed when diagnosing joint and cartilage pain. Knees, neck, back, shoulders, and other body parts, are common areas for arthritis to attack.
A number of natural therapies can help alleviate the pain, including spinal decompression. For a personalized approach to your unique health condition, contact Pure Health Medical today.
Call Our Clinic to Get Pain Relief for Sciatica, Disc Bulge and Arthritis
At Pure Health Medical, we can help you find out what is affecting your wellbeing and get you feeling healthier and energetic faster.
Check out our chiropractic rehab page to see if any of these conditions relate to your issues.
If you are experiencing any of the pain conditions listed above, call us now at 614-839-1044 to schedule your consultation with our experienced specialist, Dr. Matthew Marcotte.