Posts Tagged ‘spinal decompression’
Monday, February 14th, 2011
There are plenty of stories of folks who, after many years of doing things a certain way, discover a much easier way to accomplish the same task. It could be a certain route they drive each day to work only to realize that by turning on “D” Street instead of the expressway they can save 15 minutes of time in the car each day by avoiding a particularly congested area of the commute.
Or how about the story of the treasure seeker spending his life looking for the mother lode only to find the most valuable treasure was in his back yard the whole time? If only he had known. If only someone had told him.
Running a business in the medical industry can be much like the two examples above. There may be a certain route you have been taking to serve the public and make a profit. But what if there were an easier route that got you more profits quicker? What if instead of looking all over the world or Internet for a goose that lays golden eggs, you had someone show a treasure you already have but just didn’t know it?
Marketing and business gurus constantly teach us that the quickest way to expand practice or business revenues is to focus on your current customer base. Specifically, to sell more to those with whom you already have a relationship of trust.
But what can you offer them without jeopardizing their trust in you? Obviously it has to be something of value to them…something they would be grateful to you for thus deepening their value and commitment for you.
Did you know that there are several highly reimbursable items with excellent patient outcomes available to you right now? They are so effective that they just might be that “easier” route to patient success and increased profits.
Take electro-therapy for example. TENS units are medically coded and have an average reimbursement of around $350 while the wholesale cost is around $30 depending on the unit. That’s over a 1000 percent markup! And TENS is proven to aid patients who suffer in pain by providing a pleasant sensation that overrides the pain within the nerve channels. It’s so effective that the American Society of Anesthesiologists recommends it as a good way to treat chronic pain. Plus there are several other electro-therapy modalities such as microcurrent, IF, EMS and galvanic that each have their own strengths. While they are not Medicare reimbursable items, many private payers will cover them. Plus there are several manufacturers that offer dual units—units that combine TENS with say, microcurrent or EMS. This way you can prescribe TENS to a patient who needs both modalities, and he/she will get the added benefit of the other.
Another highly effective and high reimbursing device is the SR 500 Decompression Back Brace which reimburses at an average of $930! Other back braces have similar reimbursement rates but only the SR 500 Decompression Brace works to treat the cause of most lumbar back pain instead of the symptom. (To learn more about it click here). The increase in patient satisfaction due to the healing and pain relief your patients experience will lead to an increase in referrals.
There are many other ways to increase your revenue from your current customer base. Billing items such as conductive garments, conductive bracing and many other products and treatment modalities are just some examples.
Before you invest a small fortune trying to increase your practice revenues by advertising to get new customers, consider the “treasure” that is lying right in your own back yard. Help your current customers by giving them more options to treat their pain and to heal. As you do you might just find what you had been looking for all along.
Tags: alternative pain management, back brace, decompression, discs, Durable Medical Equipment, Electric Muscle Stimulation, electro therapy, EMS, galvanic, IF, Lower Back Pain, microcurrent, spinal decompression, sr 500, TENS
Posted in Articles by Michael Harris | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010
Did you know that virtually all back braces on the market today are based on the same working concept that was first developed way back in 650 A.D.? Sounds crazy but it’s true. That concept has been to immobilize the area of the back that is experiencing the pain. Immobilization is best accomplished using a belt or brace that squeezes tightly, similar to a woman’s corset. This is referred to as constriction.
However, in the 1990’s with the onset popularity of spinal decompression therapy one company designed a new kind of brace from scratch…a brace that could achieve a similar effect achieved during decompression therapy. (Decompression therapy is the use of computer guided spinal adjustments that targets herniated or bulging discs while you are lying on a spinal decompression therapy table. The adjustments expand the space between the two compressed vertebrae thus allowing the disc to distract [return] into its proper place and begin healing.)
The resulting new brace is the SR 500…a brace that inflates with air and expands vertically once adorned. As it expands vertically it pushes up against the rib cage and down against the pelvic girdle. This action helps offset the effect of gravity and stretches the lower spine thus creating decompression.
Since its invention and introduction to the U.S. market, the SR 500 has gained many fans, sworn advocates and users. The exclusive US distributor of the SR 500 is Spinal Rehab Solutions, Inc. (and the owner of this blog). It has received numerous testimonial letters at its offices in Henderson, NV. Many of them tell of how the SR 500 has practically healed them, saved them from spinal surgery and/or has afforded them a normal life again. The following is one such testimony:
“I have been using the SR 500 for about 18 months now. I first injured my back over 17 years ago when I fell on a ceramic tile floor. The fall caused my L5 disc to bulge. Since then my lower back had gotten worse as my discs had degenerated. No doctor or surgeon could help me. Weekly visits to my chiropractor were all that was saving me. During this time I never stopped looking for a remedy. Every three months or so I would use Google to search for various key words for back pain remedies. Then finally I found the SR 500 and I have been wearing it religiously since. I love it! It works! I can definitely tell my back is finally healing. I am no longer in pain and am even able to start exercising again. My chiropractor even got mad at me because he knows I am doing something that is healing my back but I haven’t told him what! I estimate that in another 6 months my back will be totally healed.”
Kathy Benkert
Lathrup Village, Michigan
Here is another testimonal from a gentleman in Kansas City, KS–a man that happens to actually work in the medical equipment supply industry and was already familiar with the various constriction braces on the market. Here is what he had to say:
“I was first introduced to the SR 500 Brace at a company training. Spinal Rehab Solutions founder and CEO Steven Fontana had flown out to our corporate headquarters in Kansas City, KS, to educate our staff on how this new brace works so we could best represent it to our client base. As Steven began to explain how the brace creates decompression of the spine by lodging up under the rib cage and pushing down against the pelvic girdle, my interest immediately began to intensify.
I approached Steven after the training to inquire about getting one. I explained to him how I had been suffering from chronic back pain for the last 8 years (since my spinal compression fracture) and was on the verge of agreeing to back surgery.
Steven was kind enough to leave me with a sample brace and I began wearing it that day. I was very anxious to see if it would do what Steven claimed it would do—decompress my spine. I had a 3 day ministry convention coming up where I would be standing in a booth long periods of time. I figured that would be the ultimate test for the SR 500.
Well, it has been a month since I first started wearing the brace and I can honestly say I am very blessed to have received it. My back pain is pretty much eliminated. I still wear the SR 500 from 2 to 4 hours per day. If I have a particularly long day on my feet, or have to do a lot of walking, or any serious lifting (not often, but occasionally) I still feel that old ache… but it is SIGNIFICANTLY improved! So much so, that I have really put off the idea of surgery!
I used to have nights when I couldn’t sleep, even with pretty heavy doses of anti-inflammatory medication, and sometimes even with prescription pain meds; I have not had a sleepless night (well, at least from back pain) since about a week after I began wearing the SR 500.
I wore the SR 500 for most of the time that I worked the 3-day ministry conference; I wore it under my polo, over a t-shirt, and it was quite comfortable for the extended hours I worked our booth. I am gearing up to work another 3 day festival on Labor Day weekend, and will be counting on my SR 500 to pull me through again!
Thanks again to Steven and Spinal Rehab Solutions for providing this incredible product to me. I’m serious… I LOVE it!”
Jim Gillespie
Knit-Rite
Kansas City, KS
If you suffer from a bulging or ruptured disc please consider the SR 500 brace. It could help you like it has helped thousands already. You must first obtain a prescription from your doctor. Most insurance companies will cover the SR 500 as will Medicare. If your doctor is not familiar with the SR 500 you may want to visit www.SpinalRehabSolutions.com and print off appropriate material to take to him/her. If your doctor still will not prescribe you one (although rare, it has happened. Some doctors just don’t like new things or change, or they may have financial motives to steer you toward surgery or other remedies), then please move on to another doctor, or call the Spinal Rehab offices at 702-586-5107 to inquire about a doctor in your area that is known to be familiar with the SR 500.
Happy healing!
Tags: back brace, back pain, back surgery, chiropractics, decompression, herniated disc, Lower Back Pain, pain, spinal brace, spinal decompression, spine, sr 500
Posted in Articles by Michael Harris | No Comments »
Monday, November 22nd, 2010
Both CEO Steven Fontana and I (marketing director) spent this last week in Atlanta manning our booth at the MedTrade show. We were there with high expectations and despite the show’s attendance being off by some 50 percent over last year, those expectations were met in spades.
“We saw a continued interest in our SR 500 Lumbar Spinal-Air Decompression LSO Brace,” states Fontana. “In a time when the durable medical equipment industry is in turmoil with many DME suppliers are getting their reimbursements slashed and losing bids in the new competitive bidding environment, bracing is standing tall as a high reimbursement item and the SR 500 in particular is receiving a lot of attention because it is so unique and effective.”
At times the crowds at the Spinal Rehab Booth were standing room only during the 3-day show.
Also quite popular was the new Ortho TENS unit–an electro-therapy unit that has 6 body-specific presets, 2 preprogrammed universal settings that simulate IF and Galvanic, and 1 unspecified/open universal setting the patient or doctor can program as needed.
“The Ortho TENS is a magnificent unit simply because it can do so much yet it is very user friendly,” says Fontana. “It has the added benefit of being a good substitute for IF and Galvanic for those patients that need those treatments but can get them because Medicare does not reimburse for them. With the Ortho TENS they doctor can prescribe TENS therapy (which anyone in need of Galvanic or IF most likely need TENS as well) and indicate the Ortho TENS unit. The patient gets it covered and gets the treatment he or she needs. Everybody wins!”
Now that MedTrade is over we are eagerly following up on all the interest we got from the show. Additionally, we are looking forward to MedTrade Las Vegas in the Spring of 2011.
Tags: back brace, back pain, DME, Durable Medical Equipment, electro therapy, High Voltage Pulsed Galvanic Current, HME, Home Medical Equipment, IF, Interferential, Lower Back Pain, spinal brace, spinal decompression, Spinal Rehab Solutions, sr 500, TENS
Posted in SRS Insight | No Comments »
Friday, October 29th, 2010
If you were to do a search online for the “SR 500” you would likely come up with some links to a Yamaha motorcycle. You would also find the SR 500 is the given product name for a certain type of back brace, however, the SR 500 is no normal brace. Normal braces—or braces that are “common” on the market—are constriction braces. This means exactly what the term implies…they constrict. They are designed to cinch tight around the abdomen to immobilize the area. The theory is less movement less pain.
This simple logic has been the “backbone” of back bracing theory for hundreds of years. Then in the mid 1980s a new kind of treatment started to take hold in America—spinal decompression. By the late 1990s decompression therapy had made significant advances in technology and popularity. It was about that time that a Korean Medical company asked the question: Why can’t there be a brace that produces some of the same effects as decompression therapy?
The result of that question led to the world’s first ever decompression brace. I’ll spare you the details of exactly how it evolved, but evolve it did to what is now known as the SR 500. So let’s take an inside-out look at the SR 500. What makes it unique? What makes it a “decompression” brace?
First of all, the SR 500 is not a constriction brace. It does not immobilize the spine. When properly adorned, it actually promotes healthy movement. This helps avoid muscle atrophy which is a known side effect of the constriction back brace.
What the SR 500 does is expand vertically. In order to obtain a decompression effect, the designers created unique air chambers or cells made of a rubber bladder-like material that, when filled with air, expand upward. As they expand they cause the overall profile of the belt to grow from just 4 inches in height to over 7 inches in vertical height. As it does it lodges up under the rib cage pushing upwards and down against the pelvic girdle pushing downwards. The result is an unloading of the lumbar spine as the weight-bearing forces are offset. As this occurs, something quite magical takes place inside the spine. Discs that have been “compressed” due to an injury (such as a herniated or bulging disc) or due to a long life of poor health and poor posture (results are disc degeneration) can now “decompress.” That means they can distract or facilitate back into their original space and shape. As they do they reabsorb any lost fluids and begin to heal.
The decompression effect achieved by the SR 500 is a scaled down version of the decompression achieved on a decompression table at a qualified chiropractor’s office. Decompression tables use computer guided micro movements to target and adjust specific discs for short periods of time while the patient is on the table. This pinpointed effect has produced thousands of positive results for chronic back pain sufferers. The SR 500 offers the chance to continue decompression into the home between visits or after the therapy ends. It serves as a perfect supplement to the table treatments and it has helped speed the recovery of many patients. It has even allowed many patients freedom from pain killers and the elimination of the possibility of spinal surgery.
Included with the SR 500 is a hand pump that has a built in pressure gauge to insure proper inflation, a owner’s manual and a laundry bag. The SR 500 is 100% machine washable. The brace also comes with a rigid front and rear panel for those individuals who need more spinal stability in the initial stages of healing.
The design behind the SR 500 is patent protected and is available by prescription only. Medicare and private insurance companies reimburse for the brace. Visit your doctor, chiropractor, physical therapist or other care provider to inquire about obtaining your own SR 500. You may want to visit www.spinalrehabsolutions.com first and print off some information to show your provider in case he/she is not familiar with this type of brace.
Tags: back brace, back injuries, back pain, back surgery, chiropractics, decompression, discs, distraction, Durable Medical Equipment, healing, herniated disc, Lower Back Pain, pain, spinal brace, spinal decompression, Spinal Rehab Solutions, spine, sr 500
Posted in Articles by Michael Harris | 10 Comments »
Thursday, October 14th, 2010
If only there were a study done regarding how effective back surgery is in relation to not having back surgery. I wonder what the results would be? Maybe some day someone will conduct such a study.
Well, that someday is today! In a very thought provoking article, MSNBC contributor Linda Carroll reports on just such a study. It is a great article that tells the story of a Scottsdale, AZ woman who has endured two back surgeries only to find her pain increasing.
The article also reports on what researchers found when they combed through over 1400 patients in the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Comp database. The results regarding back pain sufferers who went under the knife vs. those who did not are nothing less that shocking!
Read the entire article here.
Tags: back brace, back injuries, back pain, back surgery, discs, DME, Durable Medical Equipment, HME, Home Medical Equipment, Lower Back Pain, MSNBC, pain, spinal brace, spinal decompression, spine, sr 500
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010
I recently read a Q and A session on a European blog where individuals could ask a doctor about a certain situation in their personal health lives and the doc would respond.
One particular question a woman was asking about her 70-year old mother’s back pain. The response was lengthy and informative so I have taken the liberty to copy what was said and post it here for your educational reading.
“My mother has severe pain in her lower back and legs. An MRI scan showed ‘cauda equina’ compression and a slipped vertebra. She was told the only treatment is an operation but the outcome will not be that good and may even make things worse. She was given Gabapentin for the pain but it hasn’t helped, and she’s constantly crying and unable to do anything. Are there any other treatments?”
Dr Scurr says… Your mother is stuck between a rock and a hard place. But as is so often the case, communication is everything, and what is significant is that you’ve been led to believe the outcome of surgery ‘will not be that good’.
While I agree there’s a possibility an operation may not help, and under exceptional circumstances could make matters worse, the balance of probability is her pain will be reduced and she’ll be able to get back to normal life.
Hers is a common problem, so it is worth describing what’s going on. The cauda equina (or ‘horse’s tail’) are the group of nerves which travel from halfway down the back. They run through the spinal canal, a channel about the thickness of your little finger which is situated behind the vertebrae.
The scan revealed your mother has degenerative disease (often referred to as wear-and-tear arthritis), which has put pressure on those nerves. This is usually because a disc between two vertebrae is breaking up or bulging.
Sometimes the pressure is due to lack of space when new bone has formed in the spinal canal (a condition known as osteophyte formation). This is due to damage and inflammation caused by arthritis.
The medical term for this lack of space in the spinal canal is spinal stenosis. It is very common, probably affecting almost all of us to some extent as we age, though not to this degree.
All this pressure on the cauda equina causes severe back pain and some pain in the buttocks and legs, usually relieved only by lying down. It’s a disabling and miserable condition, and it usually worsens.
Your poor mother’s stenosis is being compounded by a slipped vertebra (spondylolisthesis). Imagine a pile of three cotton reels, one on top of another, then gently push the middle one; the cotton reel holes are no longer lined up, so that the bundle of nerves running down the middle are at best kinked, at worst crushed.
This slippage is caused by degeneration of the ligaments and muscles which support the vertebrae, and is the result of a sedentary lifestyle combined with natural ageing.
By the time it gets to this stage, other options, such as good physiotherapy, are very limited.
The spinal stenosis can be relieved by laminectomy, trimming the bone behind the cauda equina to open up enough space for the nerves to travel free of pressure.
To tackle the spondylolisthesis the surgeon will stabilise the vertebrae using screws, bone grafts, or both (a technique known as spinal fusion).
The combination of the two procedures constitutes major surgery, but it is routine, i.e. thousands of such operations are performed every year, and it’s the best potential route for your mother to be pain-free and mobile once again.
Gabapentin can be effective in the treatment of pain, caused by damage to nerve tissue. The dose has to be adjusted upwards, slowly, to reach a level that provides relief, although in this type of problem, which is caused by the crushing of nerves, the chances of success are limited.
You need to tackle the cause, and that means having the courage to go through with an operation.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1299793/Ask-doctor-Is-surgery-cure-pain.html#ixzz0vgGF8Sxy
Personally I wonder if decompression therapy would help her, or are her joints and ligaments too deteriorated? Wearing a decompression brace such as our SR 500 would certainly help relieve some of the pressure and be a good indicator as to whether decompression may work.
Tags: back brace, back pain, back surgery, herniated disc, Lower Back Pain, spinal brace, spinal decompression, spine, sr 500
Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
Tags: back brace, back pain, back surgery, DME, Durable Medical Equipment, herniated disc, Lower Back Pain, pain, prescription drug addiction, spinal brace, spinal decompression, spine, sr 500
Posted in Articles by Michael Harris | 2 Comments »
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
According to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), 60 percent of children toting heavy backpacks to school had suffered from back pain; studies conducted in France have shown that the longer a child wears a backpack, the longer it takes for the spine to correct itself from a curvature or deformity; and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, concluded that the heavier the bags, the more there was compression of the discs in the spine and increased curvature of the lower spine in kids.
Kids’ schoolbags should not weigh more than 10 to 15 percent of their own weight (i.e. if a child weights 65 pounds, their backpack should weigh no more than 13 pounds). Concerned parents only need to see their children leaning in one direction, breathing heavily while lugging their backpacks, or holding their straps to ease achy shoulders to realize they are carrying too much weight. Here are some tips to get your kids’ minds off their backs and back into their studies:
Be Picky About Your Pack
Children naturally migrate toward backpacks that display their favorite television characters. Examine these carefully. The right carryall for their school supplies can be fun and safe. An appropriate-sized backpack will end just a few inches above the waist. Also look for a backpack that has soft, padded straps to maximize comfort and different compartments that help distribute the weight. Packs with waist straps are an added bonus.
Proper Pack Packing
Have your child sort through their backpack and leave any books home that aren’t needed. Place the heaviest items in first so they are closer to your child’s back and put less strain on those muscles. Encourage your child to stop at his or her locker frequently to drop off books that aren’t needed the rest of the day. If the choice is available, advise your child to select a paperback textbook over the heavier hardcovers
Read more: http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/back-to-school-backpacking/#ixzz0yVHwRTtI
Tags: back brace, back injuries, back pack, back pain, back to school, discs, herniated disc, Lower Back Pain, spinal decompression
Posted in Reposted from another source | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
If you are one of the millions of Americans suffering from disc-related back pain it is important for you to understand the difference between the three major types of disc dysfunction and how to treat them.
A disc can suffer damage from an isolated incident such as a fall or a car accident, or it can gradually weaken with age. Either way, the result is most likely severe pain.
This is because discs are in such close proximity to a slew of delicate nerves. One slip, bulge, break or squeeze from the adjacent disc and you can experience pain that will stop you in your tracks, most likely in the form of sciatica pain (the nerve that goes through your buttocks and down your legs).
Here’s a summary of everything you ever needed to know about your discs but never knew you needed to ask:
- A healthy disc has a fibrous outer shell with a jelly-like, squishy substance in the middle called the nucleus. It is that center substance that gives the disc its shock absorbing traits and keeps the vertebrae from rubbing against each other.
- A bulging disc is when, most likely through an injury, the disc is over compacted (squished) between the two vertebrae it protects, forcing the nucleus to push against the fibrous shell with such force that it actually bulges the wall of the shell.
- A herniated disc is when the nucleus actually penetrates the fibrous wall spilling out into the inter-vertebra cavity. This is also called a ruptured disc.
- Disc degeneration is not necessarily caused by injury although an earlier injury may be the partial cause. Degeneration is a much slower onset and is due to age, poor health and poor posture. All these combined gradually wear the disc down. The disc loses its height and elasticity. As it loses height it begins to allow the vertebra to touch and rub. This in itself can be painful and will likely result in osteophyte formations (bone spurs on the outer rim of the vertebrae). Signs of early disc degeneration are referred to as disc thinning.
No matter your disc ailment, believe it or not there is something you can do. Discs can heal if given the opportunity. That opportunity is in the form of added space. All of the above ailments are caused by either a onetime violent squeeze on the disc or a life time of squeezing from gravitational effects. Either way the disc’s natural residing area was compromised forcing it to flatten. With no room to spare in the inter-vertebral disc space, the disc, or parts of it, is forced out. Or in the case of degeneration, cell by cell, over time the disc dissipates.
Give the disc back its original space and the disc will reassume its original shape…and heal! Well, most likely. Extremity of the injury or the advancement of the degeneration may be deterring factors…as will age and patient’s overall health.
How do you give a disc more space? Depends on who you ask. A spinal surgeon is likely to tell you it can be done through surgery (by cutting off the herniation or carving into the vertebra to create more room) or not at all (in which case they may recommend a spinal fusion of the two vertebrae in question thus totally eliminating the need for the disc).
A chiropractor will tell you otherwise—particularly a chiro who specializes in decompression therapy. Modern decompression therapy involves computer guided micro adjustments that can target the specific disc in question. The adjustments expand or stretch the two vertebrae thus creating more inter-vertebral disc space. The result is the disc distracts back into its place and begins the healing process. Full distraction is accomplished over the course of 15 to 30 sessions. These sessions may be augmented with a decompression brace.
Of course, it should go without saying that exercise and good health can make a huge difference in both preventing disc problems in the first place, and in helping them heal. This is especially true with degenerative disc disease. If your core muscles, (the ones responsible for lower spine support) are kept strong, natural weight-bearing forces are kept off the discs to begin with thereby sparing your discs the wear and tear that promotes degeneration.
Tags: back injuries, back surgery, healing, herniated disc, Lower Back Pain, pain, spinal decompression, spine
Posted in Articles by Michael Harris | 17 Comments »
Thursday, August 19th, 2010
Steve Fontana, our fearless leader, boss and CEO here at Spinal Rehab Solutions, Inc., spent this lovely morning at the offices of Freedom Medical doing a training. He just returned and reports that everything went well and is excited about Freedom’s enthusiasm to start proactively representing the SR 500 Brace here in the Las Vegas metro area. Welcome to the SRS family Freedom!!
Tags: back brace, DME, DMEPOS, Durable Medical Equipment, spinal brace, spinal decompression, sr 500
Posted in SRS Insight | No Comments »
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