Our San Francisco Spinal Decompression "Patient of the Week" is David Lehman. Several years back David presented to our clinic with severe debilitating low back pain and sciatica. David was unable to walk without using a cane or walker. He did not want back surgery. Well, David has been pain free since he finished his spinal decompression therapy with the DRX9000. David now comes in once per month for maintenance care and his cane and walker are in his garage. Check-out his video review of us.
To schedule an appointment with one of our spinal decompression doctors in San Francisco call 415-392-2225. Mention this blog post for a complimentary consultation and clinic tour.
Serving Zip Code 94111 and surrounding areas for over 20 years
The Executive Express Chiropractic San Francisco "Patient of the Week" is Michael Yolken. Michael presented to our chiropractic clinic with ongoing low back pain due to a herniated disc in the lumbar spine. He had tried medical care and therapy without much success. Thanks to our San Francisco chiropractors and therapists Michael is well on the road to recovery. Check-out the video review.
To schedule a back pain assessment and complimentary consultation with one of our San Francisco Chiropractors, call 415-392-2225 and mention this review.
I have been lifting weights since I was 14 years old...so for over 35 years. I have also suffered from a herniated disc in my low back and my neck. And, I have helped tens of thousands of back pain patients and thousands of herniated disc patients return to more normal lives...including getting back into the gym and lifting weights. So I guess I'm kind of an expert on the subject.
Anyway, a herniated disc in the neck or low back is not the end of the world. In fact, many people live and die with disc herniations and never even knew they had them. However, a subset of disc herniations, say 20% or so from my work, become symptomatic...some severe.
Chiropractic adjustments in my opinion can help prevent disc herniations by helping keep the spine in a more normal alignment, which directly influences the health and integrity of the inter-vertebral discs.
And chiropractic care should start young. Many back problems such as premature spinal degeneration, disc bulges, disc herniations, spinal stenosis, that adults present with started in their youth.
Chiropractic can act as a counterbalancing mechanism for all the wear and tear we put on our bodies trying to enjoy life.
In any case...when it comes to weight lifting with a herniated disc in the neck or in the low back, you need to be careful. For sure you don't want to workout when you are in severe pain and the disc and nerve roots are inflamed. You want to wait until things settle down, then ease back into it.
Now at some point in order for you to even know you have a herniated disc you would have had an MRI. And if you had an MRI you were most likely in severe pain or had sciatica, or arm pain, numbness or weakness.
Hopefully, you had the right kind of treatment such as chiropractic care or spinal decompression, which is what we do at Executive Express Chiropractic in San Francisco. Personally, I have responded favorably to chiropractic adjustments and spinal decompression with the DRX9000 and DRX9000c. I workout more with weights now than I ever have. But I am smart about it. I use lighter weights and really work on keeping a strong core.
So YES...working out with weights is fine with a herniated disc as long as the conditions are right.
Again (it's SO important)...you want to make sure that after your herniated disc is confirmed by MRI that you have the right kind of treatment and you a working with a herniated disc expert that knows about your weight lifting.
Note: You should also be concerned about trying to maintain a more normal body weight as extra pounds put stress on the spinal discs. A diet that is anti-inflammatory such as a plant-based diet makes sense also as herniated discs tend to cause lots of inflammation. I recommend you drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water every day. So if you are 200 lbs., that's 100 oz of H2o.
So, there you go. That's my two cents for what it's worth. If you live in or near San Francisco you can meet with one of our San Francisco Herniated Disc Doctors at Executive Express Chiropractic. Mention this blog post and receive a complimentary consultation. To schedule call 415-392-2225.
Often times back pain patients are concerned that they may have a herniated or slipped disc in their back or neck...especially if there was a trauma involved...how would they know?
Well...if you have pain radiating down your arm or leg (sciatica) you should be concerned. If it hurts when you cough, laugh, or sneeze, you may have a disc herniation. Or, if you have loss of grip strength, arm or leg weakness...or foot drop, you could have a lumbar or cervical disc bulge or herniation.
A herniated disc can also cause numbness or tingling in the extremities, as well as hot or cold sensations...or just abnormal sensations.
Your nerves transmit sensory and motor input to and from the brain. Herniated or bulging discs put physical pressure on the nerves and can cause loss of sensation and motor function.
Sure, a herniated disc can happen all at once from a trauma. But what's more likely to happen is a disc herniation from long term wear and tear from spinal degeneration and misalignment's. Just like a tire can blow if it hits a curb...or it can blow from driving too hard over time with the front end out of alignment.
And get this...you may or may not have any neck or back pain with a disc herniation.
Actually...you could have a disc herniation and not even know it. In fact, most people that have disc herniations never even develop signs or symptoms. That's right...only a small percentage of people that suffer disc herniations ever even know they have them. This is because not all herniated cervical or lumbar discs cause symptoms or loss of function.
However...of the herniated disc patients that do develop symptoms such as back pain, sciatica, numbness, tingling, or weakness...some of them become chronic and severe...some severely disabled.
So, knowing if you have a disc herniation is very difficult. Because even all the signs and symptoms I described above can be caused by other things, especially after acute trauma.
The gold standard for confirming the presence of a disc herniation in the spine is MRI.
If it turns out you have a herniated disc in your back there are surgical and non-surgical options.
Chiropractic care is probably your best natural solution...then non-surgical spinal decompression...or a combination of both. You may or may not need medical care...it just depends on the nature and severity of your condition.
Most of the patients we treat at our San Francisco Chiropractic and Spinal Decompression Center have already tried medical care for their disc herniations. They are looking for a more natural solution.
Chiropractic adjustments, disc decompression therapy, massage, exercise, and deep tissue laser is a potent disc herniation treatment combination.
Some herniated disc specialists include physical medicine, acupuncture, and nutrition therapy into their herniated disc treatment regimens.
The best thing to do if you have any of the signs and symptoms of a herniated disc is find a chiropractor that offers spinal decompression therapy. Do your homework on-line. You can also email me at ebendavis@yahoo.com or check our list of Recommended Chiropractors.
If you live or work near downtown San Francisco you can visit our San Francisco Spinal Decompression Clinic at the Embarcadero Center in the Financial District. Call 415-392-2225 to schedule an appointment. We validate parking. Ask for a complimentary consultation.
The spinal disks (or discs) are protective shock absorbing pads in between the spinal vertebrae. Though the spinal disks do not actually slip out of place, they do have a gelatinous center (nucleus pulposus) that can rupture, bulge, or herniate through the outer fibrous containment walls of the disk (annulus fibrosus).
Disk herniation, ruptured disk, bulging disc, slipped disk, and prolapsed disk, are all terms used to describe an injured disk that is no longer able to function properly, and has lost the ability to contain the jelly-like substance in it's center where it belongs. This is usually confirmed by cervical or lumbar MRI.
This can happen all at once from an injury, such as a car accident, sports injury, or slip and fall...or over time as a result of degenerative disk disease from poor posture at home or work, chronic misalignments of the spine, hormonal imbalances, or hereditary factors.
When the disks rupture or herniate it can put pressure on the spinal nerve roots resulting in a "pinched nerve". Pinched nerves in the neck can cause pain down the arm. A pinched nerve in the low back from a bulging or herniated disk can cause sciatica or pain down the leg.
There are varying degrees of disk herniations (see herniated disk nomenclature). Depending on the severity of a ruptured or slipped disk, back surgery may be indicated. But this is rare. There are nonsurgical options for bulging and herniated spinal disks such as spinal disk decompression, physical therapy, and chiropractic.
Many herniated disks in the spine simply heal on their own. And some people live and die with disk herniations and never even knew they had them.
However...there is a sub-set of herniated disk patients that develop chronic back pain or chronic neck pain. Some become severely disabled. It just depends on the age of the patient, the degree of spinal degeneration, and the severity of the disk pathology, and how many spinal disks are involved.
Nonsurgical spinal decompression is the new gold standard as far as natural treatments for disk herniations goes. Disk decompression helps the disk to heal by helping to restore normal inter-vertebral disk position, enlarging the disk space, elongating the spine, and absorbing the herniated disk fragments back to the center of the injured disk by creating a "negative pressure".
Does nonsurgical spinal decompression make sense for you? You need to decide that for yourself. The first step is to locate a disc decompression doctor and find out if you qualify medically...not all herniated disk patient do.
The good news is...spinal decompression is safe and it's gentle. And if it doesn't help you can explore other treatment options. If you have spinal fusion you are automatically disqualified from spinal decompression. It's something to think about.
If you live or work near downtown San Francisco and would like to find out if spinal decompression at Executive Express Chiropractic makes sense for you, call 415-392-2225 and ask for a complimentary consultation.
We have helped hundreds of disc herniation patients return to more normal lives with spinal decompression. We treat both lumbar disc herniations and cervical disc herniations. Most of the patients we initiate spinal decompression programs with have been suffering with chronic back pain or chronic neck pain for years.
And most have tried just about everything under the sun...cortisone injections, pain pills, muscle relaxers, physical therapy, chiropractic, even surgery.
Spinal decompression seems to always be a last resort...but should it be? After-all...nonsurgical spinal decompression is safe, gentle, and effective. And disc decompression now has a 5-7 year track record of fabulous outcomes, with minimum adverse reactions.
The primary reason spinal decompression is not considered a "first choice" for herniated disc treatment or bulging discs, is that it is not covered by insurance. And it's not covered by insurance because there are no long term studies (YET) to support the claims of success spinal decompression doctors and patients are reporting worldwide.
There has been favorable preliminary research done on spinal decompression by John Hopkins University, Duke University, and the Mayo Clinic (see Spinal Decompression Special Report)...but no long term studies.
Because of this many medical doctors, physical therapist, and chiropractors, refuse to consider spinal disc decompression as a treatment option for their degenerative disc disease or disc herniation patients.
And, because insurance will not pay for it, many chronic low back pain or neck pain patients try all the covered therapies first...such as chiropractic, physical therapy, and medical care. Only if these back pain treatments fail do they consider paying out of pocket for decompression therapy.
But is this the right approach...why not consider spinal decompression for disc herniations first?
Well...some people are. There is enough information on-line now and enough people have actually done decompression therapy or know someone that has, that they are choosing spinal decompression first...research or not...even if they have to pay out of pocket.
Why? Because life is short and they want their life back NOW!
Human beings are wired to be able to make decisions for themselves when given enough information.
At our spinal decompression clinic in San Francisco we encourage our decompression patients to tell others and to share their stories so that others may benefit...just like they did (see Spinal Decompression Reviews on our YouTube Channel).
I also answer every single on-line inquiry I receive from patients around the world on spinal decompression...and make appropriate referrals if possible.
Life is not much fun when you are crippled with back pain and sciatica...or neck pain radiating into the arm. Or leg or arm weakness. Heck...the worst case scenario is nonsurgical spinal decompression does not help you. Sure...you are out some time and money but you are still whole and can pursue other treatment options for your back or neck condition.
If you have been diagnosed with a herniated disc, bulging disc, degenerative disc disease, or facet syndrome, you may be a prime candidate for spinal decompression.
You can wait if you want to and try all the therapies covered by insurance. Or...you can find a doctor with a spinal decompression machine and start the process now (if you qualify medically)...the choice is yours.
The machine we use at Executive Express Chiropractic is the DRX9000 and the DRX9000c...but there are many spinal decompression machines. Just make sure the spinal decompression clinic you choose has lots of experience...there is an art to the process.
If you need help locating a spinal decompression doctor send me an email at ebendavis@yahoo.com.
Have you been told you need back surgery? Well, you might. But you might not also...and which would you prefer? Sure, there are micro-surgical techniques...and the doctors that do them have done hundreds of them...but many patients would rather live with the pain than have back surgery.
Why? Because they just don't like the idea of someone cutting into their body and removing something if they can avoid it. Common sense tells them that it's risky. And friends and research tells them the results are mixed. At least that's what I hear all day long...and I'm right in the thick of it.
I receive maybe 50 email inquiries per month from around the world from cervical and lumbar disc herniation patients that are scared to death to go under the knife, but have been told it's the only option. Is it?
It might be if your spine is too far gone and you have severe degenerative spinal stenosis or advanced degeneration and stenosis from an unstable spondylolisthesis. But cases like this are the exception and not the rule.
For the most part, the herniated disc patients we consult with and treat at our Spinal Decompression Clinic in San Francisco have disc herniations that can be helped non-surgically with spinal decompression.
Spinal decompression machines are designed and built to help reposition and heal injured spinal discs.
Disc decompression can also help bulging discs in the neck or low back before they herniate.
Conditions such as degenerative disc disease can also benefit from nonsurgical spinal decompression because the degenerative process can be slowed by restoring fluid and nutrient exchange between the injured disc and the bloodstream.
So, should you have back surgery or neck surgery for your herniated disc?
I sure wouldn't jump right into it. Why not try spinal decompression first? Decompression therapy will leave you whole. The worst thing that happens is it doesn't work. You can still try other treatments and you can still have back surgery if you wish.
But here's the deal...If you have a fusion surgery in your spine...you will be disqualified from spinal decompression. You will never be able to try it.
I had a retired surgeon in my office crying and begging me to perform spinal decompression on him. He had had a failed lumbar fusion surgery. He said he would have the hardware removed. He offered me $100,000. He could only sleep upright. He said the surgery had ruined his life.
Now this is a dramatic example...and he may have been so bad he needed the fusion...some are.
But some aren't, and they have the back surgery anyway because they think it's thier only option. Only to find out later about nonsurgical spinal decompression...When it's too late!
In my opinion, many people that are told they need surgery have other options. And spinal decompression has quickly become the "go-to" nonsurgical other option. It's worth a shot!
To find out if you are a candidate for spinal disc decompression at our San Francisco Spinal Decompression clinic...call 415-392-2225 and ask for a complimentary consultation.
We have been providing treatment for herniated discs in San Francisco for almost 20 years now at Executive Express Chiropractic (formerly Front Street Chiropractic).
About 6 years ago we began to incorporate Spinal Decompression into our herniated disc treatment protocols. First it was lumbar decompression with the DRX9000. Then cervical decompression with the DRX9000c. The results have been outstanding.
Spinal decompression machines are designed and built to treat cervical and lumbar disc herniations and related neurovascular compression syndromes without drugs or surgery. Here is a list of the conditions that spinal decompression can help:
Lumbar disc herniations
Cervical disc herniations
Cervical disc bulges & Lumbar disc bulges
Foraminal stenosis
Spinal stenosis
Disc degeneration
Facet syndrome
I like to think of nonsurgical spinal decompression with the DRX9000 or DRX9000c (or many of the other fine decompression systems on the market) as a respirator for the spinal discs. The action of spinal decompression on an injured disc, helps the disc to function they way it would if it were healthy...which helps to make it healthy...to the extent this is possible. There are limitations of matter.
But now I know...hundreds of successfully treated disc patients later...that the body can do amazing things if given the chance. And spinal decompression gives the herniated disc a chance. A chance to repair itself...a chance to give back lost life.
Can spinal decompression help you? Maybe. The only way to find out for sure is to saddle-up and go through the entire decompression protocol, which can take 6-10 weeks.
You have to qualify medically though. Not all patients with a herniated disc qualify.
For instance, if you have surgical spinal fusion or any hardware in the spine you are disqualified from treatment. Or if you have an unstable spondylolisthesis...or a severe scolisosis.
The best thing to do is to find a spinal decompression doctor near you and find out if disc decompression makes sense for your condition.
If you live in the SF Bay Area, you can contact our San Francisco Spinal Decompression clinic at 415-392-2225. Ask for a complimentary consultation. Mention this blog post.
We were the first to offer nonsurgical spinal decompression with the DRX9000 in San Francisco. That was about six years ago. During this time we have helped hundreds of herniated disc patients return to more normal lives. We have also learned from each and every spinal decompression patient, how to make the treatment work even better.
Many herniated disc patients that are searching for a spinal decompression center in SF make the mistake of thinking that spinal decompression therapy is the same anywhere. After-all...it's a machine isn't it?
Sure, the DRX9000 (and any of the other fine decompression systems) is a machine designed and built to treat herniated discs and other neurovascular compression syndromes (bulging discs, spinal stenosis, disc degeneration, facet syndrome)...but somebody still needs to know how to use it and apply it to each individual patient. There is a learning curve.
I know...because our spinal decompression results are much better now than they were in the beginning. In fact...it's night and day.
We are better at determining how many drx9000 sessions a patient needs. We are better at knowing what other therapies to incorporate (such as deep tissue laser therapy) into the treatment. We are better at knowing when to begin exercises and which exercises work best for specific conditions. We are better at the actual set-up of the machine and putting the harness on the patient. We know when we should change the angle of pull or not. And, we know how to teach our patients what they need to do to make sure the results last.
So please...when you are searching for a spinal decompression doctor in San Francisco...ask them how many herniated disc patients they have treated, and for how long. Why?...because it matters. Big Time!
Herniated discs...especially in the lumbar spine are fairly common...I have one. You may have one too...and not even know it. In fact, we could pull 10 people off the street and find that 6 or 7 of them have a herniated disc in the low back. And maybe only a few of them have the signs and symptoms of disc herniation.
However, there are many people that have symptomatic disc herniations...many with loss of function and disability. Some patients know they have disc herniations but are able to manage them with regular chiropractic, nonsurgical spinal decompression, spinal and core exercises, and yes...even weight lifting.
Personally, I find that I have less back pain when I lift weights. In fact, if I stay on a regular workout routine of weights, core exercises, and stretching, along with chiropractic adjustments...I have no back pain at all.
If you have been diagnosed with a herniated disc and you are symptomatic, you should work with a chiropractor, orthopedic doctor or physical therapist to come up with a back pain regimen that makes sense for you. This may or may not include weight lifting.
One thing for sure...you don't want to lift weights when your back pain is acute and inflamed. You will most likely do more harm than good. But once your back pain subsides, and the inflammation goes down, and your spine and core are strengthened...it may be OK.
I advise all my patients to scale in slowly. Start with real light weights and ice after you work out for 15 minutes. Listen to your body and stop if you feel pain. Your chiropractor, MD, physical therapist or trainer can pick some exercises that are safe for you...then modify them based on your feedback.
So, YES...you can lift weights with a herniated disc...as long as the condition are right.
Your chiropractor is a herniated disc expert and can help you create the right conditions.
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