What Is Spinal Decompression And Can It Work For You?

spinal stenosis

If you regularly suffer from neck and back pain, or have numbness and weakness in your arms or legs, you may benefit from the chiropractic procedure known as spinal decompression. Your pain and numbness may be caused by damaged discs in your back, or from a pinched nerve in the spinal area. If so, this procedure may be your best bet to not only alleviate the pain, but also keep you from having painful surgery later on to correct the problem.

What Causes Disc Problems?

The discs in the spine are very durable for the purpose they were intended for, which is cushioning the spine, and absorbing the physical shock of walking and running through our daily lives. Accidents and injuries to the back or neck can damage the outer protective sheath of the discs, and they will also deteriorate over time through aging. Once that sheath begins to break down, the disc will begin to protrude, or even get caught between the vertebrae in the spine.

This event is what causes medical conditions like a herniated disc or bulging discs, which cause chronic back pain. The pressure these discs go through can also cause them to shift, and press upon sensitive nerves that reside along the spinal column. This is the root cause of a condition known as a pinched nerve, which can cause pain to radiate down through your lower back and into your legs. If you begin to lose feeling in your posterior and legs, or experience weakness, a pinched nerve is most likely the cause.

The good news is that all of these conditions can be improved through spinal decompression.

What to Expect From the Procedure

Unlike the roller table kind of traction commonly used in chiropractic therapy, this kind of vertebral decompression elongates the spine by gently pulling each section apart, through the aid of a computerized traction system. It charts the spine as an axis, and will systematically apply continuous, gentle pressure to encourage each section to separate naturally.

While the traction is working, it is also creating negative pressure within each disc, allowing any that are bulging or shifted to be gently pulled back into its natural alignment. If the discs were crowding nerves or slipping out of their protective sheaths, the negative pressure will help them to go back to their original position, as well as slide them back into the sheaths, if possible. This will result in a reduction of pain and numbness, and will encourage the discs to heal themselves naturally, without having to resort to surgery.

Cautions and Advice

As always, you must consult with your doctor before undergoing any kind of spinal decompression. The final decision is yours, of course, but your doctor will know best if what is causing your chronic back pain or numbness can be helped by this procedure. You should also keep in mind that just one session may not fix everything. Some patients may require several sessions, depending upon the severity of your condition.