Dr Davis' Back & Wrist Pain Blog

Will your treatment work for me ?

Yesterday was an interesting day. I had a consultation with a very nice 81 year old lady to see if she was a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression on the DRX 9000. The DRX 9000 treats herniated discs, sciatica, spinal degeneration, facet syndrome, stenosis. I am one of the only doctors in San Francisco with this equipment. She has had a Laminotomy at L4/5 on the left side of her spine (part of the spine was removed to relieve pressure on the spinal cord) as well as multiple cortisone injections. According to her, nothing has worked. She has multiple level disc degeneration and disc herniations. I told her that it is possible that the DRX 9000 could help her, but the goal would be to make her better than she is, not a complete resolution of her symptoms. If all the symptoms resolved it would be great, but we should not expect this to occur. I told her that if she was willing to do the treatment with these expectations I would accept her as a patient. She wanted me to basically guarantee that she would get completely better. Anyway, there was a miss-match between what she wanted and what I thought was a more realistic expectation. It seems to me that it would be good enough to be able to reduce your pain levels, put some more spring in your step, and be able to enjoy life a little bit more, but not for some. They want a guarantee that they will be 100% better. So, part of my job is managing expectations. The good news is that right after this lady left, a young woman (31 year old) who had been in an auto accident  in San Francisco and herniated a disc in her neck a few months ago came in. Other than the herniated disc in her neck she is in really good shape. I feel strongly that we can bring about a complete resolution of her condition. She has tried physical therapy, cortisone injections, and chiropractic. Her doctors want to do a surgical fusion and she does not want to do it. She starts next week and I am am looking forward to helping her get back to normal. 

Introduction

Well, I decided to maintain a  diary of what it's like on a daily basis dealing with patients that are for the most part living with chronic, severe, back and wrist pain and do not wish to have surgery. Most of my patients have tried everything from pain medications to cortisone injections and physical therapy. Some are unable to work because of their condition, some just live with the pain the best they can. I have been treating these kinds of problems for 15 years with my hands. Recently, I have Implemented the DRX 9000 spinal decompression machines into my practice, which treat disc herniations, stenosis, and advanced spinal degeneration by creating a negative pressure which helps to reposition and heal  injured discs. Basically, it's like a respirator for discs. It helps the spine do what it would if it could. By doing this over and over again it is possible to take the spine to a better place, adding life and longevity. So, I will be posting Monday through Friday so my patients and prospective patients can learn about this process. I will also be revealing my struggles and successes as the process does not work for everyone (I wish it did), and it is not easy to keep my machines full as there is a lot of skepticism on behalf of the general population and the medical profession. But, I can tell you that this was the best thing I have ever done. The overall results are just incredible.