Spinal Decompression - Is It For Real?

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Spinal Decompression - Is It For Real?

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

In case you’ve never heard of it, spinal decompression is a relatively new treatment for pain and other symptoms caused by herniated and degenerated spinal discs. I have been involved in providing spinal decompression in San Antonio, Texas for the past few years, and although it quickly is becoming more accepted, there still exists considerable doubt and controversy about the effects of this type of treatment. Although many patients and doctors alike have been very pleased with the results of spinal decompression, some still think it is just an elaborate and expensive hoax.

The truth is, like any treatment for spinal discs, spinal decompression is far from a cure-all. It is not appropriate for all cases, and although it does offer a much higher chance for a good result than any other form of disc treatment, it does not work for everyone.

Because spinal decompression does not work 100% of the time, and because some providers use a lot of hype in their promotion of this form of treatment, there are bound to be a few patients who are disappointed in the outcome of their treatment. This disappointment comes out in the occasional forum and blog posts that I’ve seen in which a few individuals did not get good results proclaim the treatment to be universally worthless.

In fact, spinal decompression is highly effective for most patients who are treated with it for disc bulges and herniations and mild to moderate amounts of disc degeneration. The overall success rate for spinal decompression is much better than for steroid injections in the spine and for disc surgery, and spinal decompression is quite a bit safer than either of these common forms of disc treatment.

I know that some doctors are still of the opinion that spinal decompression only provides temporary symptom relief and that most patients will need disc surgery eventually anyway. This is not the case at all.

There is now considerable evidence in the form of pre and post spinal decompression treatment MRI scans that decompression does in fact make positive changes in the discs. In the majority of cases of disc herniation, the amount of disc bulge is significantly decreased with a series of spinal decompression treatments. This provides objective evidence of the claim that spinal decompression actually promotes disc healing, not just short-term symptom improvement.

While every case is different, from my experience in my San Antonio spinal decompression clinic, most patients not only get good symptomatic improvement, that improvement is long-lasting and allows those patients to return to their normal activities. Most have been able to avoid surgery and are now living much better lives because of their spinal decompression treatment.

For more information visit the spinal decompression San Antonio website and get your free report on spinal disc problems and the treatment options for them.