Low back pain is all too common a problem. In fact, it is estimated that 31 millionAmericans will experience low back pain at some point in their lives. The frequency of low back pain means that many patients ignore their symptoms, assuming that the back will heal correctly and that pain will disappear sooner or later. But low back pain is actually one of our country’s greatest health problems.
One of the main contributors to low back pain is disc herniation: a condition that will neither heal nor halt pain with time. Rather, the discomfort associated with herniated discs simply increases with time, causing chronic pain and decreased mobility. Herniated discs—also referred to as pinched nerves or bulging discs—occurs when a portion of the spinal discs weakens, ruptures, and perforates the out from between the vertebrae. As the disc impedes on the vertebrae, most often spinal nerves or the spinal cord is pinched.
There are two main causes for disc herniation: natural wear and tear and the weakening of the spinal discs, or traumatic injury. With traumatic injury, patients may feel painful symptoms immediately. With gradually-progressing disc herniations, patients may experience a slow increase in spinal pain.
Regardless of the cause of the herniation, patients who have experienced a disc hernation describe the same painful symptoms: tingling and numbness, muscle weakness, electric shock pain, leg pain (sciatica), and buttock pain.
Traditionally, if a patient’s pain was not vastly improved after 6 weeks of rest and anti-inflammatory medication, doctors recommend spinal surgery to correct the herniation. As an alternative to costly and risky surgery, our clinic offers patients disc herniation pain relief through Spinal Decompression Therapy. This physical medicine treatment is both non-surgical and non-invasive.
Spinal Decompression Therapy uses a gentle, motorized traction table to slowly and safely realign a patient’s spine. As the table extends and the patient’s spine is elongated, a vacuum-like effect occurs in the spinal column and retracts shifted discs. This repositioning alleviates the pressure the herniated disc has placed on surrounding nerves, eliminating pain and restoring proper spinal alignment. The elongation of the spine also allows for pockets of needed space among the vertebrae, ensuring that oxygen and nutrient-rich fluid is allowed to permeate the injured area.
As a non-invasive, non-surgical, narcotic-free low back pain treatment, Spinal Decompression Therapy successfully heals disc herniations, and assures patients return to their normal level of activity.
Call our office today to schedule a FREE consultation with a Spinal Decompression Therapy specialist.