Spinal Decompression Therapy – The Alternative to Back Surgery!

Call Campbell Chiropractic in Las Vegas for non-surgical Back Pain Relief

What is Decompression?

Spinal Decompression is the centerpiece of the ABS System. When a disc is *decompressed* negative pressure is created within the disc which allows for the reintroduction of water, oxygen and nutrients into the disc which heals the disc from the inside out. Decompression decreases the pressure within a damaged disc allowing the disc to rehydrate which restores the normal height to the disc and reduces the irritation associated with the damaged disc.

Dr. Campbell has recently been certified in the advanced Kennedy Decompression Technique. At Campbell Chiropractic, we are now using the Kennedy Neural Flex Decompression Technique for cervical (neck) and lumbar (back) spinal decompression.

Please call Dr. Campbell for more information: (702) 734-8844

How is it Done?

The procedure is painless and has been structured with patient comfort in mind. Patients are fitted with unique chest and lumbar harnesses and then step onto the loading platform where they are reclined to the supine position. The harnesses are connected to both the end of the table and to the control tower respectively. Arm
supports are placed in the armpit region immobilizing the upper torso. A special air bladder located in the lumbar belt is inflated creating a fulcrum that focuses treatment to the specific lumbar disc level that is desired (L1 to L5). The lower pelvic belt is attached to the control tower, which is elevated 0 to 30 degrees above the
patient. The procedure alternates angle of pull intervals of 60 seconds of decompression with 30-second intervals of partial relaxation. The entire procedure, including set up time, takes approximately 30 minutes per session. Decompression is achieved throughout the process creating up to 200 mm of negative intradiscuclar pressure retracting the herniation and healing the damaged area.

At Campbell Wellness, Spinal Decompression Therapy is available for $130 per session. Most patients require a minimum of 20 sessions per condition. We do not bill any insurance company for Spinal Decompression Therapy.

  • Avoid Back Surgery through Decompression Therapy
  • FDA Cleared Spinal Decompression Therapy
  • Physicians from across the country recommend it
  • Treats ALL Lower back pain
  • Including Disc Problems, Sciatica, Facet Stenosis

The Benefits of Spinal Decompression
by Rich Smith

Exploring a procedure that has become an integral part of a comprehensive spinal
rehabilitation program.

Time was that a patient with back pain caused by a herniated disc or other disc deformity could look forward only to expensive major spine surgery for relief. Now, of course, he has options, such as minimally invasive endoscopic discectomy or, if a more conservative approach is merited, spinal decompression therapy.

Endoscopic discectomy entails use of an imaging-guided probe inserted between the vertebrae and into the herniated disc space. Microsurgical attachments routed through the endoscope remove a portion of the nucleus tissue of the compromised disc; the amount excised depends on various circumstances but never affects the disc’s support structure. It is also possible to use the instrument to manipulate a distorted disc back into place or to purge fragmented disc material and bone spurs.

Upon completion of the work and subsequent extraction of the endoscope, the tiny wound site is covered with a small plastic bandage—no stitches involved. Because it is minimally invasive (and requires only a local anesthetic), an endoscopic discectomy takes only about an hour to complete. Moreover, patients can expect little or no pain. Risk of complications associated with conventional lumbar surgery is drastically reduced—in many instances, altogether eliminated.’

LOCKED AND LOADED

Then there is spinal decompression therapy, which has garnered considerable attention in recent years. It is a nonsurgical treatment for low-back pain and pain in the leg, neck or arm that works by reducing loading of the spine. Researchers note that many adults suffer from excessive spinal loading, which is problematic because it promotes premature degeneration of intervertebral discs and leads to a tendency for repeated injury of the disc annulus.

Spinal decompression therapy to address loading customarily involves near-daily, hour- long sessions over a span of roughly 2 to 6 or 7 weeks during which spinal stabilization exercises are a regular component.

A consideration in spinal decompression therapy sometimes given short shrift is osmotic diffusion of collagen precursors—in other words, disc nutrition. Without good osmotic diffusion of collagen precursors, avascular disc nutrition will not occur and that makes healing in the disc segment an iffy proposition. In a healthy spine, 30% of the collagen precursors—proline, nutrients, and oxygen—diffuse into the avascular disc via the annulus (that is the direct route), while 70% pass through the overhead—and underneath—vertebrae hyaline end-plate; if a single cycle of this diffusion takes roughly 500 days in a normal disc, imagine how much longer and less reliable the process will be for an abnormal disk. Fortunately, however, diffusion is helped by lowering intradiscal pressures, precisely what spinal decompression therapy accomplishes.

Giving encouragement to the proponents of spinal decompression therapy are numerous clinical studies demonstrating that the therapy does indeed cause disc space to decompress, generally by producing and sustaining negative intradiscal pressure. One such study looking at patients with herniated and degenerative disc disease found that 86% of 219 subjects who completed decompression therapy reported immediate disappearance of symptoms, while 84% of the total remained pain-free for 3 months afterward; 92% of the cohort showed varying degrees of physical improvement—those gains were locked in for the vast majority of them 90 days after treatment.

Naturally, spinal decompression therapy is not for everybody. Conditions helped by it are largely confmed to sciatica, disc hernia, disc protrusion, spinal stenosis, and radiculopathy. Still, that doesn’t stop doctors (and payors) from wishing it could be for everybody: spinal decompression therapy is economical, with costs only about 10% those of lumbar surgery.

TURNING THE TABLES

A common approach to administering spinal decompression therapy finds the patient placed comfortably atop a specially designed table that cycles distraction tension to the lumbar spine in concert with brief relaxation respites. The goal here is to safely isolate the deformed spinal disc and mechanically induce unloading without also triggering counterproductive reflex paravertebral muscle contractions. Most spinal decompression therapy tables do a fme job of meeting that objective.

More and more, though, these tables are going high-tech. For example, among the market leaders is a computerized table system that employs no harnesses, straps, belts, ropes, or pulleys, yet is able to generate ample force to the spine in a remarkably efficient manner. With this increased efficiency, a patient typically requires only about a third as much distraction tension as would otherwise be necessary. According to the manufacturer, this substantially reduced tension requirement improves patient comfort, but also allows a broader base of patients to qualify as candidates for spinal decompression therapy.

Rich Smith is a contributing writer for Orthopedic Technology Review.

REFERENCES

1. Endoscopic discectomy. Available at: www.spineonline.comled.html Accessed:
May 9, 2005.
2. Patient ratings of vertebral axial decompression therapy for back pain. Available at: www.remedyfind.com/rem.asp Accessed: May 9, 2005.
3. Product description. Cert Health Sciences LLC. Available at:
www.certhealthsciences.comlfeatures 1 . Accessed: May 9, 2005.
4. Gionis TA, Groteke E. Spinal decompression. Clinical study evaluating the effect of nonsurgical intervention on symptoms of spine patients. with herniated and degenerative disc disease. Orthopedic Technology Review. Nov-Dec 2003;5(6):
36. Available at: novdec03/pg36.htm Accessed: May 9, 2005.
5. Falk D. Spinal bracing. Available at: www.spineuniverse.comlfavicon.ico Accessed: May 9, 2005.
6. Dallolio V. Lumbar spinal decompression with a pneumatic orthesis (Orthotrac):
preliminary study. Acta Neurochir Suppi. 2005;92:133-7. Available at:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Accessed: May 9, 2005.
7. Kulkarni S. Spinal orthotics. Available at:
www.emedicine.com/pmr/topic7.htm Accessed: May 9, 2005.

If you have any questions about our services, please contact us today at (702) 734-8844.