What Is Spinal Decompression? A Plain-English Guide
Spinal decompression is a popular term, especially for those who are suffering from back pain. You might wonder if it’s a real medical treatment or another therapy with a fancy name. Here’s our plain-English version with no sales pitch.
In this article
What Spinal Decompression Is Exactly
Spinal decompression is a treatment that doesn’t involve any surgical intervention. You simply lie on a motorized table. A computer controls the machine that applies a gentle, calculated pull to your spine. The pull lowers the pressure in a compressed disc. Your back and neck pain comes from one fact. That is, the disc has been squeezed until it bulges or herniates into a nerve.
Lowering the pressure in the disc can relieve the pain. The disc behaves like a vacuum. It draws in water, oxygen, and nutrients. It can retract to its normal position, which is away from the nerve that it was pinching. This is the whole idea of spinal decompression. It relieves pain without incisions, injections, or medication.
Is Spinal Decompression the Same as Traction or an Inversion Table?
Spinal decompression is not the same as traction. This is where most people get confused. Traction and inversion tables stretch everything at once, including your muscles. The force is the same for all people. Our spinal decompression involves the use of the DRX9000. It calculates the pull based on your body weight. It’s not more than half of that. It also cycles through gentle pull-and-release phases. Each phase is designed to reach the disc and not stretch the muscles around it.
Traction and inversion tables may be similar to the DRX9000. They offer relief only for a few minutes. Spinal decompression that uses a machine controlled by a computer and cleared by the FDA offers lasting relief.
Non-Surgical vs Surgical Decompression
Spinal decompression surgery, such as laminectomy, is a surgical intervention. It involves a surgeon removing bone or tissue to make room for a nerve. This is usually done in severe cases, and it requires anesthesia, hospitalization, and a recovery period.
The non-surgical spinal decompression is what we offer here, and this is the therapy that this article is referring to. It’s a conservative approach. Throughout the session, you’ll be fully clothed while you lie comfortably on a table for half an hour. You can drive home after that. No recovery time. No downtime. Most people suffering from disc problems try this option first before resorting to surgery.
Who Performs It
Our chiropractor, Dr. Hoa Nguyen, performs this non-surgical spinal decompression. The equipment that we use matters a lot as well. At Dallas Spine Center in Carrollton, TX, we only use the DRX9000 on the full research protocol. It means we follow 18 pull-and-release cycles per session, 28 to 30 minutes on the table. Treatment plans can run from 20 to 28 visits. Not all chiropractic clinics follow this protocol closely.
“Spinal decompression is a non-surgical solution to help relieve your back pain. It gently pulls the vertebrae in the opposite direction so the compressed disc has less pressure inside, and it helps retract the disc so it will not pinch the nerve that causes your pain.”
Dr. Hoa Nguyen, D.C.The Short Version
- Spinal decompression treats compressed, bulging, and herniated discs, along with the sciatica and pinched nerve symptoms they often cause
- It is controlled by a computer and calculated based on your body weight, unlike inversion, traction, or DIY hanging.
- It is non-surgical. This means no cuts, no drugs and no downtime.
- To know more about what a session is actually like, you can read our in-depth article about what spinal decompression feels like. The answer usually surprises people.
If your back pain is related to a disc, please read our breakdown of how we run this treatment on this spinal decompression page. You may benefit from our $47 visit with an exam and X-rays to find out whether you’re a good candidate or not.
Curious if Decompression Fits Your Back?
One visit answers it: a consultation, an exam, and in-house digital x-rays for $47 at our Carrollton office on North Josey Lane. From there, the findings decide, not a sales pitch.