What do tongue-twisting words like radiculopathy, myelopathy, and claudication – have in common?
Well, they’re all nerve diseases that affect the neck, the spinal cord or both. They are all treatable with spinal decompression therapy — one of the newest and most effective chiropractic treatments to hit the market in recent years.
Spinal decompression is a technique used to lengthen the spine and relieve pressure on pinched nerves that may be causing pain. It helps speed up the healing process by increasing circulation around damaged discs in the spine, while also reducing compression on spinal nerve roots.
To perform spinal decompression therapy, patients lie on their backs on a motorized table while their lower half is secured and unable to move. The chiropractor places a harness around the patient’s hips and attaches it to the table near the patient’s feet. The lower part of the table will then, while the patient is harnessed, begin to move back and forth while the patient’s upper body remains stationary.
How does spinal decompression work?
When you are in pain, even a slight stretch during treatment can make you feel uncomfortable, but spinal decompression provides an effective alternative to surgery and other more painful forms of treatment.
Spinal decompression is safe and gentle traction therapy that targets problem areas of the neck or lower back to return spinal discs to their proper alignment and function. It does not take a lot of pressure to realign the disc.
A majority of the patients undergoing spinal decompression do not experience any discomfort or pain during the therapy. On the contrary many of the patients reportedly prefer spinal decompression to certain types of massage therapy.
“It’s quite relaxing.” says Dr. Scott P. Zack of Michigan. According to him, the patients do not feel any pain during this process, only a certain stretching throughout the spine and its surrounding muscles.
Who is eligible for Spinal Compression?
These include:
- Patients with herniated discs and sciatic nerve pain
- Degenerative disc patients
- Facet syndrome patients
- Patients who have received failed spinal surgery
- Patients who show no sign of improvement after non-invasive treatments
There is no black and white list of people who are eligible to receive spinal compression. Hence whether you have chronic lower back pain or a compressed nerve, it’s imperative that you consult an experienced and qualified professional instead of receiving treatment from anyone with a dubious qualification, as it may result in injury instead of convalescence.
