Facts About Spinal Decompression Shavano Park Patients Will Find Helpful

By Janine Hughes


Pain in the back or neck can range from being a minor annoyance, to a debilitating condition which greatly restricts the activities a person can participate in. People suffering from pain of this sort may get some relief through a procedure known as spinal decompression, which can be done through both surgery and non-surgical means. When considering spinal decompression Shavano Park, TX patients should have a clear understanding of what it involves.

This procedure manipulates the spine's force and position by gently stretching it. Motorized traction is used to accomplish this in the non-surgical method. It relieves pressure from the disks of the spine, making movement easier and less painful, and allowing for more efficient flow of nutrients and oxygen into these tissues, which helps promote healing.

If indicated, both medical doctors and chiropractors will suggest this treatment to their patients who are experiencing persistent pain in the spine due a long-standing disorder or acute pain from an injury. Typically a non-surgical approach will be used first and if this does not help, a surgical technique may be needed. Patients with worn spinal joints, spinal nerve root conditions, sciatica, and herniated or bulging disks have all shown improvement following this procedure.

Most patients will need to attend between 20 to 28 sessions which will be scheduled throughout a period of 5 to 7 weeks in order to get the best results. Wearing regular clothes, patients will be asked to lie down either on their abdomen or back on a special table which they will be secured to with a harness across both the upper torso and pelvis. The practitioner controls the action of the table with a computer and adjusts treatment to the patient's specific needs, the session generally lasts 30 to 45 minutes. It may be used alone or in combination with hot and cold therapy or electrical muscle stimulation.

There are some patients which will not be considered good candidates for this form of treatment due to the nature of their particular condition. These people will be referred for another pain management approach. If a patient is pregnant, has a tumor or fracture, metal implants in the spine, or suffers from an abdominal aortic aneurysm or advanced osteoporosis, decompression is contraindicated.

Some types of back pain, in particular that which is caused bony growths of the spine known as osteophytes or disk problems that do not respond favorably to non-surgical therapy, may be addressed through surgery. Patients who continue to experience numbness, tingling, weakness, and pain can often get relief by undergoing surgery to relieve pressure on the nerves of the spine.

The surgical method implemented depends on the patient's symptoms. Although collectively these operations share a common goal of easing pressure in the spine, they differ from one another. They can involve the excision of a small section of disk or bone, or sometimes the complete removal of a damaged disk.The space which encloses the nerve roots may also need to be enlarged.

Even though there are no guarantees that a patient will enjoy a notable improvement following surgical decompression, many surgeons go ahead with the operation. The relatively small risks of surgery are standard to most similar procedures and the potential benefits for the most part outweigh them.




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