As a chiropractic physician specializing in treating patients with chronic and severe lower back and/or leg pain, this is a question I get asked a great deal of the time so I thought it might be helpful to describe some of the conditions that respond well to decompression therapy.
One of the most common conditions we treat are the herniated, bulging or protruded disc injury that is causing sciatica pain that travels into the leg. When the disc puts pressure on the sciatic nerve the pain begins to travel along the course of the nerve, and depending on how severe the pressure is, the pain may travel all the way to the foot. Nonsurgical spinal decompression therapy does an excellent job of reducing the nerve root compression by rehabilitating the offending disc. It does this by creating a negative pressure within the disc that allows it to recede and heal.
Another common condition that responds well to nonsurgical spinal decompression is spinal stenosis. Simply put, spinal stenosis is a ‘narrowing’ that occurs within the spinal canal or within the spinal joints where the nerve roots exit. This narrowing can have multiple causes and we have an excellent discussion of this on the website. What we have found in our clinic is that nonsurgical spinal decompression rehabilitates the disc and allows it to rehydrate, thereby gaining height and allowing more room within the spinal canal and the spinal joints. This allows spinal stenosis patients more freedom and they often are able to ‘take back their lives’ and once again enjoy activities that they had to give up previously.
Facet Syndrome is an additional condition that often responds quite well to nonsurgical spinal decompression. In Facet syndrome there is often an accumulation of inflammatory fluid that has resulted in a swelling within the facet joint capsule and this puts pressure on the nerve root leading to lower back and/or leg pain. Treating this with nonsurgical spinal decompression usually results in a significant decrease in pain as the facet joint eliminates the inflammatory fluid and returns to its normal state.
If lower back and/or leg pain is making your life miserable, nonsurgical spinal decompression may be the best treatment to get you back on the road to good health. Feel free to give Dr. Tunick a call and he would be happy to discuss your personal situation.