Posts Tagged ‘spinal decompression’
Monday, August 16th, 2010
If you have prolonged moderate to severe back pain, chances are at some point a doctor is going to suggest back surgery. Most likely this suggestion will come after pain med prescriptions and epidural blocks have lost their efficiency and you are at your rope’s end.
There are many things you can do to help your back heal and avoid going under the knife. Of course everyone is different and each cause of back pain is unique, so unfortunately a “one cure fits all” remedy is simply not available.
Let’s get going. First and foremost is diet and exercise. Yeah yeah I am sure you are as sick as the rest of us of hearing you’ve got to work out and eat right. But maybe you are hearing it so much because it is actually important? Just a thought.
The preventative effects exercise alone can have on your back and its overall health are significant. Ever heard of exercises that strengthen your core? They are not referring to your spirit or soul. They are referring to that group of muscles located in and around your midsection (your waist and lower back). They are called obliques, abdominals, flexors, extensors and glutes. Keep these babies toned and loose and you will not only avoid a plethora of potential back problems later in life, but you will find your posture is one even 18th century Aristocrats would be proud of.
Keeping these muscles strong keeps weight bearing forces off the spine…which can prevent such nasties as bulging or herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, and facet joint deterioration. All of which equal pain with a capital “P.” Regarding diet, answer this question: What is most likely to wear down your spine—80 or more lbs of beer belly fat (men) or no extra weight at all? Does the answer really need to be stated?
What does need stating is the effect smoking can have on the back. As if you needed one more reason to not smoke, the arteries which carry precious nutrient-rich blood to your back—including to all the delicate tissue around your spin and the discs and muscles that cushion and support it—tend to harden and restrict with age. Smoking speeds up this process possibly making it so you have an 80-year old back when you are only 60 or 65. Lack of nutrients to your back is an open door invitation for degenerative diseases such as arthritis to take hold.
But let’s say you’ve already spent most your life neglecting your core muscles coupled with a wicked mixture of bad eating habits. Now you have constant moderate to severe back pain. Is it too late? Is your back destined to be sliced and diced? No, not necessarily.
Again, this has to be said with caution because sometimes surgery may indeed be necessary. But we’ll assume you are one of the many lucky ones who can find relief without a surgical knife. How do you know if you are one of the lucky ones? One of the following tactics will work.
To begin with, start exercising your core muscles! Trouble is by now you may be in so much pain that you can’t actually exercise. Now what?
Work with a physical therapist. Start slow, with stretches and mild moves. Believe it or not, little by little your muscles will strengthen. However, that might not be enough. You may have damage that needs repaired in addition to strengthening your core. Fortunately the body is its own best healer! A chiropractor, especially one that specializes in spinal decompression, may be exactly what you need. Today’s decompression tables are guided by super smart computers that control the force and angle of the pull on the spine thus tricking the body’s natural tendency to resist. The result is extra room between the vertebrae into which bulging or herniated discs can distract and heal.
Lastly, use a decompression spinal brace for your toughest times. Such a brace can give your back the break (no pun intended) it needs just long enough to get you to your next round of core-strengthening exercises.
Tags: back brace, back pain, back surgery, Lower Back Pain, pain, spinal brace, spinal decompression, sr 500
Posted in Articles by Michael Harris | 5 Comments »
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
As we reported here in the blog last Wednesday, company CEO Steven Fontana packed his bags and headed to Kansas City, MO for a hands on training of the Knit-Rite staff. Steven reports the training went well. “There were about 22 people in the training,” reports Fontana. “It was quite interactive. There were lots of comments and questions, and I could see that collectively they internalized the advantages of the SR 500 over constriction braces that dominate the market. And that understanding will lead to enthusiasm as they begin to sell it.”
A couple of the trainees are back pain sufferers themselves and Fontana left them with a test brace. By noon today Fontana had already heard back from one of them.
“I have used the SR 500 every day! I LOVE this brace…I have been very impressed with the amount of traction that it provides, without being uncomfortably tight. This is very important to me…due to the fact that I wear an insulin pump. The infusion of the insulin along with the inserted blood glucose sensor have to have a very good amount of circulation through the area of interstitial fluid below the surface of the skin. What I have found with other ‘constriction’ braces, is that they tend to inhibit the circulation of the interstitial fluid in and around my infusion sites, which would cause problems with the overall blood glucose control. I have to be VERY careful about controlling my blood glucose levels, and this brace allows me to function comfortably at work, keeping my glucose under good control, while also providing much needed relief and allowing healing to take place in my back.” ~~Jim Gillespie
Tags: back brace, back pain, Knit-Rite, pain, relief, spinal decompression
Posted in SRS Insight | No Comments »
Friday, July 16th, 2010
More than 80% of Americans will have back pain at some point in their life — whether from injury, overuse, or as a result of the degenerative process that accompanies aging. Chronic low back pain is frustrating, not only because of the severe pain but also because it can be difficult to effectively treat.
A particularly common cause of this pain is a herniated disk, also referred to as a “slipped disk.” The usual conventional medical solutions have been anti-inflammatory medications, muscle relaxants, injections, physical therapy, and surgery, all of which take an extended amount of time to take effect and which may not work for everyone. Recently, a novel type of treatment has been gaining favor. It is a non-surgical, non-invasive treatment for herniated disks called spinal decompression.
Your spine consists of bones, called vertebrae, each of which is stacked one upon the other. The vertebrae are separated from each other by rubbery discs that act as shock absorbers.
The disks are constructed like hard donuts filled with a jelly-like material in the center. Over time, the strong fibrous cartilage (the donut shell) can weaken, allowing the jelly-like material (nucleus pulposus) to bulge. If it’s a mild bulge, it is not painful. However if the bulge extends out far enough, it can irritate nerves and lead to pain. But more seriously, a disc can herniate- explode through the shell causing disc material to pour out and press on spinal nerves. This can cause excruciating pain and significant nerve damage.
One of the first devices used for spinal decompression was approved by the FDA in 1995. Because spinal decompression requires special expertise and expensive equipment, few physicians have offered this treatment — but the procedure is becoming more commonly available.
Here’s how it works…the patient lies on a comfortable table made specifically for decompression, comfortably strapped down with a pelvis and torso harness that looks like a girdle. “It is a high-tech traction device,” Dr. Wei explained. “It works by slowly and comfortably creating traction by pulling and holding for one minute. Then, intermittently, it releases. It is believed that this creates a negative pressure, or a vacuum within the disk, which then sucks back the bulging or herniated disk material which was displaced,” he goes on to explain. With less pressure inside the disk, and therefore less on the spinal nerves, pain often diminishes and might even go away – sometimes altogether. To maintain the benefit, however, numerous sessions may be required.
The theory is that this technique also allows nutrient and oxygen-rich fluid to travel to the area where there is less pressure, stimulating the healing process. Most patients either sleep or listen to a CD during the treatment, Dr. Wei added. Each session takes about 30 minutes and a typical treatment program may take between 20 to 30 sessions.
Critics contend that there are no long-range, well-designed studies looking at efficacy over time, but there has been some research on the treatment and the results are promising. In one study published in Neurological Research (2001), researchers reported that a spinal decompression therapy called VAX-D produced a success rate of 68.4%, compared with 0% for a placebo therapy in treatment of chronic low back pain. Another study demonstrated that a similar device called the Spina internal disc decompression unit or IDD had an 86% response rate. And… a recent study from a team of researchers at the University of Illinois and Rome found a 71% success rate for treatment of herniated disk and other causes of low back pain using spinal decompression, with “success” defined as a reduction in pain to 0 or 1 on a scale of 0 to 5.
Dr. Wei noted that some people get much benefit from spinal decompression while others do not. He emphasized that it is not an option for everyone. “It’s contraindicated for a person who has metal implants in the spine or who has had a spinal fusion,” he warned. And it is not recommended for patients who have spinal instability or who have severe untreated osteoporosis. It’s better for people with a single-disk herniation than those who have multiple herniations. Also, people who are morbidly obese and/or who smoke probably won’t find much relief from spinal decompression.
The procedure is thought to be safe, though there is not a lot of hard science data supporting its efficacy. If you do decide to seek out this form of treatment, it’s safest and best to do so with the recommendation of your rheumatologist, who can help you determine whether it might work in your situation.
Source: freelance blogging
Tags: discs, distraction, healing, herniated discs, Lower Back Pain, spinal decompression, traction
Posted in Reposted from another source | 2 Comments »
Monday, July 12th, 2010
The halls and offices here at Spinal Rehab Solutions, Inc. have been abuzz as we have focused on giving our online training program an overhaul. New clients and employees of clients that sign on to resell the SR 500 will experience a new-and-improved web-based training course with founder and company CEO Steve Fontana at the helm, talking up key points as he moves the discussion along from slide to slide. The end result is a much more motivated and well-trained reseller armed with a good understanding of the various causes of back pain and how the SR 500 treats them.
Tags: back pain, spinal decompression, spinal solutions, sr 500
Posted in SRS Insight | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
Check out this new slide presentation called
I put together. It’s informative and entertaining. I call it “infotaining!”
Tags: back surgery, decompression table, discs, distraction, healing, herniated disc, Lower Back Pain, spinal brace, spinal decompression, spine
Posted in Articles by Michael Harris | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
So what is spinal decompression and what does it mean to you as a durable medical equipment supplier?
That’s an excellent question. Wikipedia defines spinal decompression as “the relief of pressure on one or many pinched nerves (neural impingement) of the spinal column.”
There are two ways to treat neural impingement, surgically and non-surgically. Surgically there are two common procedures called microdidectomy and laminctomy (also known as open decompression). During microdisectomy the herniated portion of a disc is removed by surgical knife or laser under the guide of a microscope. Laminctomy is more invasive and involves the removal of a small portion of the arch of the vertebrae.
For most back pain sufferers, a non surgical approach is by all means the preferred treatment choice.
One of the most effective non surgical solutions to evolve in the last decade is computerized mechanical decompression, usually found at a chiropractor’s office. Computerized mechanical decompression is similar to more traditional decompression tables, only the decompression is applied through an on-board computer that controls the force and angle of disc distraction, which reduces the body’s natural propensity to resist external force and/or generate muscle spasm.
As a compliment to this treatment, or even in lieu of the treatment, a chiropractor or physician may prescribe the use of a unique spinal brace designed to mimic and/or continue the decompression effect achieved during spinal decompression therapy. This type of brace is called a spinal decompression brace, and selling these braces is where profits for durable medical equipment providers can really come in.
If you have been in the durable medical equipment industry for a while you undoubtedly know about the hundreds of back or spinal braces on the market. But which of those braces provide spinal decompression?
The answer is tricky because, as an unintended but positive side affect, almost all braces may provide some decompression. But when it comes to traditional spinal bracing, decompression is not a primary intention. Traditional braces work by cinching tight in order to prevent movement in the affected area. Their main purpose is immobilization. However, as the intestinal cavity is compressed and the internal organs are forced upward thereby pushing on the upper torso, some minimal lumbar decompression may result. According to proponents of traditional bracing, this “compression” of the intestinal cavity provides sufficient decompression of spine.
There is another option however. A new brace on the market designed specifically to create decompression is rapidly gaining acceptance and popularity. It works by expanding vertically after it is on the patient. It has internal vertical air cell chambers that the user inflates via a hand air pump. As it inflates the brace grows vertically as opposed to constricting inward. It lodges up under the rib cage pushing upwards and down against the pelvic girdle pushing downwards. The resulting “stretch” provides spinal decompression and creates an environment where herniated or bulging discs can distract into the inter-vertebra cavity.
The centers of the discs consist of a jelly-like substance encased in a tough, fibrous outer skin shell. A herniated disc is one where the jelly like substance has erupted through the fibrous skin due to trauma or degenerative disc disease. In most cases this eruption can push on or pinch a nerve in the spinal column and cause severe pain. When proper spinal decompression is achieved and the weight bearing forces are removed from the lumbar area a distractive force is created and the jelly like material of the disc retracts back into its natural shape and position within the vertebrae, reabsorbs the disc fluid it lost when it was compressed, and with time it has the ability to completely heal itself.
A proper understanding of spinal decompression and the remedies available, particularly how spinal bracing comes into play, can mean big profits to you as a durable medical equipment provider.
Tags: back brace, DME, Durable Medical Equipment, herniated disc, HME, Lower Back Pain, spinal decompression, spine
Posted in Articles by Michael Harris | 23 Comments »
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