Our "Patient of the Week" is spinal decompression patient Anna Stephens. Anna presented with severe constant low back pain for which she could find no relief.
The diagnosis was herniated lumbar discs. Anna tried physical therapy, pain medication such as Vicodin, and many other therapies...nothing helped.
Anna discovered our spinal decompression clinic in San Francisco and decided to give it a shot. Well, here we are a few months later and Anna is well on the road to recovery. Anna looks forward to her decompression sessions and to being pain free sometime soon.
Patients like Anna will often find pain relief with spinal decompression with the DRX9000 even when all else fails.
To find out if you are a candidate for nonsurgical spinal decompression at our San Francisco Spinal Decompression Center, call 415-392-2225. Mention this review for a complimentary consultation and tour of the DRX9000.
We have been providing spinal decompression in San Francisco for over 6 six years now. The machine we use is the DRX9000. We treat mostly cervical and lumbar disc bulges and disc herniations, as well as degenerative disc disease, facet syndrome, and spinal stenosis.
We do not accept every case…because not everyone that presents with the conditions listed above is a candidate for spinal decompression. First of all…if you have had cervical or lumbar spinal fusion you are automatically disqualified from treatment with the DRX9000. If you have any hardware such as screws, plates, metal mesh, or cement work, you are also disqualified.
Some of the other contraindications to spinal decompression are moderate to severe scoliosis, aortic aneurysm, unstable spondylolithesis, advanced osteoporosis, and cancer of the spine. There are more…but the point is not everyone qualifies for decompression.
When a patient does qualify for treatment, we consider the age of the patient, level of spinal degeneration, whether or not there is a single disc herniation or multiple levels of involvement, overall health, and likelihood of treatment compliance. We only want to initiate treatment with those we feel will benefit and are willing to do their part. Because of this, we are able to help the overwhelming majority of the cases we accept.
There are many variables involved that are adjustable that can improve the odds of a favorable outcome. Things such as water intake, diet, exercise, stress, ergonomics, sleeping postures, and attitude. We try to address all of them.
There is also an art to the actual set-up and harnessing process on the spinal decompression machine itself. Mess this up and you can delay healing or even set it back. We like to think we have it mastered…though we continue to learn more every single day. For sure you want a spinal decompression doctor with lots of experience…not just a machine.
Anyway…most disc herniation patients we meet in San Francisco to discuss spinal decompression as a treatment option, have no idea about the things I described here. Many are of the opinion that a machine is a machine and think…where can I get the best price?
Well…all I can say is…you get what you pay for. If you are reading this chances are you are doing homework and are in the discovery phase and researching spinal decompression doctors. If you live in the SF Bay Area you can see us. If you live out of the area call and ask how many patients the doctor has treated and for how long. Experienence matters. Ask for a complimentary consultation and go in and meet the doctor yourself and see if it seems like a good match and if decompression makes sense for you. And ask to speak to patients that have went throught their decompression program...preferrably with a condition similar to yours.
You can always send me an email at ebendavis@yahoo.com and ask for a referral near you. I will let you know if I can help.
Anyway, if you would like to schedule an appointment with one of our spinal decompression doctors in San Francisco…simply call 415-392-2225 and mention this blog post for a complimentary consultation.
Recently, we performed spinal decompression treatment number 10,000 on the DRX9000. We have never had a spinal decompression patient suffer any kind of permanent bodily harm. Sure, some patients get sore. However, most have been suffering with chronic back or neck pain for years and have varying degrees of inflammation and muscle spasm. And we always start off nice and easy.
Spinal decompression machines such as the DRX9000 are designed and built for the specific purpose of treating neurovascular compression syndromes such as herniated discs, bulging discs, degenerative disc disease, and facet syndrome.
Nonsurgical spinal decompression machines have a built-in biofeedback mechanism which regulates the amount of pull applied to the patient based on how their body is responding to the decompression process.
This is actually the primary difference between conventional spinal traction and spinal decompression. Traction pulls at the same force without any regard to the patients "muscle guarding" response to the treatment. This can harm the patient.
Another primary difference between traction and spinal decompression is that spinal decompression is specific. The DRX9000 and most other decompression machines are able to isolate on a specific spinal disc per MRI findings. The most common disc that decompression doctors seek to repair is L5-S1. Traction pulls the entire spine.
A lot of thought and engineering goes into the design of spinal decompression systems...including patient comfort. Most of the time, patients fall asleep while receiving disc decompression treatment. Some say, it's the best sleep they get every day.
The treatment is about 30 minutes. done 15-30 times over a 2-3 month period.
So YES...spinal decompression is safe. It's safe, gentle, and effective. Which is why spinal decompression is now considered the gold standard for the nonsurgical treatment of herniated and bulging discs.
Our Spinal Decompression Center in San Francisco is located in the Financial District at the Embarcadero Center...a few blocks from the Ferry Building. Over the past six years we have performed thousands of cervical and lumbar disc decompression treatments for patients suffering with chronic back and neck pain.
Because of this Back & Wrist Pain blog, and our San Francisco Spinal Decompression blog, we receive many inquiries for recommendations for the Best Spinal Decompression Doctors in other parts of the country, or the world.
Here is a list of decompression doctors that I know personally in various locations around the country. I have either worked together in the same clinic with these spinal decompression specialists, provided co-care cross-country, or I simply know enough about them to place them on this list:
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.
Sciatica describes leg pain, numbness, or weakness in the legs, that is caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve in the low back or buttocks. The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body. In some people the sciatic nerve is the diameter of a quarter at it's largest point.
Sciatica is usually caused by a pinched nerve in the lumbar spine from a herniated disc or a bulging disc. Degenerative disc disease and Facet syndrome can also cause sciatica...as can Piriformis syndrome. There is a muscle in the buttocks called the Piriformis muscle that the sciatic nerve passes through on it's journey down the leg to the feet.
Some people that sit a lot like truck drivers or office workers are prone to Piriformis muscle irritation, especially if they have a wallet in their back pocket which can cause postural imbalances and piriformis muscle spasms.
Spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal canal or nerve root channels (secondary to disc degeneration or bulging or herniated disc pathology) can also cause sciatica symptoms.
Sciatica is usually an indication that your back condition is advancing and getting worse.
So what's the best treatment for sciatica pain?
Well, it depends who you talk to. Many orthopedic surgeons will want to either to cortisone injections to get the inflammation down...then physical therapy. Or, if the disc herniation in the low back is severe and the spine is unstable and has a lot of degeneration, they will want to perform back surgery.
A chiropractor will probably want to try a short course of spinal adjustments, massage, and exercise rehabilitation.
A spinal decompression doctor may want to do a combination of any of the above, or simply try spinal decompression as a stand alone treatment for your herniated disc, stenosis, bulging disc, or facet syndrome.
At our spinal decompression clinic in San Francisco, we incorporate spinal disc decompression with the DRX9000, deep tissue laser therapy, massage, Graston method, and spinal core rehabilitation to achieve favorable outcomes for sciatica related neurovascular compression syndromes.
We work with Medical doctors, Physical Therapist, Physical Medicine doctors, and acupuncturists as needed.
Degenerative Disc Disease in the lumbar spine is a process that usually unfolds over many years...ultimately leading to bulging discs, herniated discs, and sciatica.
Spinal decompression machines are designed and built to treat the causes of sciatica and not just the symptoms like pain medications and cortisone injections.
Can you do spinal decompression at home or hang on an inversion table for sciatica?
I would not do it...you could make your back problem worse.
Hey...don't get me wrong...inversion tables and home decompression systems work fine for some people and feel pretty good for low back stiffness...but don't take the chance with sciatica.
So anyway, if you have sciatica and you want to find out if spinal decompression treatment makes sense for you, I would find a chiropractor, physical medicine doctor, or orthopedist, that incorporates nonsurgical spinal decompression into their treatment programs for chronic low back pain.
Dr. Eben Davis and Executive Express Chiropractic in San Francisco is opening their doors to local back pain and neck pain sufferers who feel they have run out of treatment options.
Chronic Back Pain Week will be held 3/21/2011 to 3/26/2011. During this time, Executive Express Chiropractic will be offering complimentary Back pain assessments and spinal decompression treatments on the DRX9000.
Spinal decompression is a non-surgical, drug-less treatment that is performed on a special machine that is designed and built to treat chronic back conditions naturally.
Some of the chronic back and neck pain conditions that can be helped with the DRX9000 are disc herniations, disc bulges, degenerative disc disease, and facet syndrome.
Says Dr. Davis “Many patients have been told they need back surgery, or neck surgery for their lumbar or cervical disc herniations. They just don’t realize they have other options. This is what we want them to know”.
Over 80% of the population in the US will suffer a serious episode of back pain at some point in their lives. Many of these people will go on to suffer with chronic back pain, which is back pain that persists for over 90 days. Some will suffer with serious, chronic, back pain or neck pain that will interfere with their ability to have a normal active life or earn a living.
Dr. Davis, and his team of chiropractors in San Francisco, are experts in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic back pain. And they invite you to come to their Spinal Decompression Clinic in the SF Financial District to find out if the DRX9000 makes sense for you. Or the DRX9000c, which treats cervical disc herniations.
To schedule your complimentary back pain assessment and free spinal decompression treatment on the DRX9000 or DRX9000c, please call 415-392-2225 and mention Chronic Back Pain Week.
We will also be hosting a free lunchtime seminar "Nonsurgical Solutions for Chronic Back Pain" on 3/24/2011 from 12-1pm. The seminar will be sponsored by Boston Properties and will be held in the Embarcadero center Conference Center at EC4. To RSVP call 415-392-2225
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.
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