What is spinal decompression therapy and how can it help you?
Perhaps before we talk about spinal decompression therapy we should take a moment to talk about who might benefit from this treatment and why. As the name implies, spinal decompression therapy is a treatment for spinal problems that are associated with pressure or compression. There are a number of different spinal ailments that are the result of compression of the nerves exiting the spine. The most common are slipped discs, spinal stenosis, sciatica, and pinched nerves.
While the exact mechanisms of these various conditions are different, ultimately they all involve pressure or compression of the spinal nerve roots. There are surgical techniques for spinal decompression, but this article will focus on the non-surgical methods available to decompress the spine. Many times these non-surgical techniques can reduce or eliminate the need for surgery. Several studies suggest that the techniques we are about to discuss can reduce the need for back surgery by 47 to 60 percent. So, in theory, a more widespread use of non-surgical spinal decompression strategies could effectively eliminate the need for about one in two spinal surgery procedures. That’s great news for people who suffer from spinal nerve pinches, regardless of the cause of the compression.
So how does it all work? The basic concept is really quite simple. A nerve exiting the spine is compressed by a defective disc, spinal spondylosis stenosis, a fancy name for spinal arthritis. Pressure on the nerve causes it to become inflamed and chemical changes occur in the nerve that make it hyperexcitable. The result is pain, a lot and also numbness and even weakness in the muscles of the lower back, hip and leg. Depending on the nature of the nerve compression and the amount of chemical changes that occur in each patient’s compressed nerve, the signs and symptoms will vary from patient to patient. The important thing to remember is that the first job is to decompress the nerve. Next, inflammation and chemical changes need to be addressed for the body to heal properly.
Step One: Take pressure off the spinal nerve to stop continued nerve damage. There are several ways to relieve pressure from a pinched nerve. The general term for this is called spinal decompression; we should actually call it spinal nerve decompression therapy. Because it is more accurate to say that we decompress the spinal nerve than to say that we decompress the spine. So how do we decompress the spinal nerves? The answer is simple. Apply traction. Spinal traction has been used to treat nerve compression back pain for thousands of years.
The bigger question is how to most efficiently apply traction to the spine to effectively decompress the spinal nerves. There are different ways.
You probably remember seeing pictures of patients strapped in harnesses with pulleys and weights. This old style of traction has been dismissed as ineffective, probably because it was ineffective in truly separating the vertebrae and causing decompression of the spinal nerve roots.
Then there are some home methods of spinal decompression. The two most popular are the inversion machines that put you on your stomach and cause gravity to distract the spine instead of compressing it, and the large exercise balls that can be used to lengthen the spine through exercise. Both have pros and cons, and for our discussion these should be relegated to follow-up home use after a course of true medical spinal decompression therapy.
That leaves two professional technologies in competition to provide spinal decompression therapy in a medical setting. One therapy is called Spinal Decompression Therapy. It consists of a traction-like table and uses computerized sensors to monitor muscle contraction. This is important because when you begin to apply traction to the spine there is a reflex in the back muscles that resists decompressive force. This is called a muscle stretch reflex. Therefore, this monitoring of the muscle stretch reflex is important to provide effective force to decompress the spine and pinched nerves. The spinal decompression equipment synchronizes the traction with the relaxation of the muscles. Regardless of this reflex muscle contraction, the force used to decompress the spine will only exert traction on the spinal muscles and will not actually decompress the pinched nerve.
In fact, some scientists believe that old-school traction failed to produce excellent results because they failed to overcome the muscle twitch reflex that occurs when the spinal muscles are stretched. If this were the case, traditional traction devices simply stretched the back muscles and did very little to decompress the nerves in the spine. Modern spinal decompression equipment appears to have overcome this hurdle for true spinal nerve decompression.
An alternative to spinal decompression treatment tables is a technique called Distraction Flexion Therapy. Flexion distraction therapy is unique in that it is one of the only forms of decompression that treats the patient while on their stomach. This is important for a couple of reasons.
We just talked about the muscle stretch reflex in the spinal muscles that causes them to contract and resist decompression of the spine. There are many more reflexes associated with muscles. Another important reflex is called the agonist-antagonist reflex. Simply put, this is a reflex that causes the back muscle to relax when the stomach muscles shorten. This reflex may be one of the reasons Distraction Flex Therapy can have profound effects on pinched spinal nerves.
While the patient is prone on the table, the flexion distraction table is slightly flexed. This has the effect of shortening the stomach muscles and causing reflex relaxation of the back muscles. By slightly flexing the spine before applying traction, Flexion Distraction Therapy eliminates or greatly reduces the muscle stretch reflex in the back muscles. So once the spine is slightly flexed, the tensile strength of the back muscles is minimized and the spinal nerves can be effectively decompressed. Another advantage of distraction flexion therapy is that the flexion motion of the table mechanically opens the canal where most of the spinal nerve compression occurs.
So, the properties of Flexion Distraction Therapy that make it ideal for spinal decompression is that by the nature of the procedure, the relaxation of the back muscles and resistance to distraction are eliminated and the area of maximum Nerve compression is mechanically enlarged, all of which increases effectiveness. of spinal nerve root decompression.
Both spinal decompression technology and flexion distraction technology for non-surgical decompression of spinal nerve roots can be very effective in reducing pain and other symptoms associated with spinal nerve root compression. They are usually given with additional therapies designed to reduce nerve inflammation and restore proper nerve chemistry. Either of the two is worth considering before considering surgery to decompress pinched spinal nerves.
Research supports the efficacy of these two competing techniques for non-surgical decompression of the spinal nerve roots.
