Back pain is not only a common problem, it’s one of the leading causes of disability and lost time at work. The National Center for Health Statistics reported 39% of American adults reported some incidence of back pain in the previous three months.
Your spine is a complex structure, providing support and mobility for your body as well as protection for key components of the nervous system. These roles are sometimes at odds, and pain can be the result of even minor imbalances of the spine.
Treatment at Active Care Chiropractic & Rehabilitation is always a good idea when back pain lingers. As well as spinal adjustments, we offer decompression therapy that’s effective for treating pain from a range of spinal conditions.
Today, we examine spinal decompression in detail, how it works and how it can relieve your lingering back pain conditions.
When we talk about spinal decompression in general terms, we consider how anatomy, disease, injury, physical exertion, and even gravity affect the spine. All of these factors as well as age can contribute to the compression of spinal discs, the gel-filled shock absorbers that cushion and space the vertebrae.
This compression can put a premium on space within the spine, space that’s needed for nerve roots that branch off the spinal cord and head to the rest of your body. When these spaces become smaller, a condition known medically as stenosis, other tissue can contact, irritate, and compress nerves.
This leads to pain that might be felt at the point of compression or anywhere else downstream along a nerve’s path. For those familiar with the symptoms of sciatica, you’ll know that nerve compression in the lumbar spine can send numbness, tingling, pain, and weakness down the buttocks and into a leg. In some cases, symptoms might reach your feet.
Spinal discs can also rupture or slip out of place, two other conditions that can lead to nerve compression.
In practice, spinal decompression is any treatment that seeks to restore normal anatomical relationships within the spine. This can relieve nerve pressure and irritation, reducing inflammation and improving blood flow through the structures of your spine.
While chiropractic adjustments can provide some decompression benefits, we also offer motorized decompression therapy. Typically, decompression tables provide gentle reverse tension along the axis of your spine.
You’ll have straps around the pelvis and chest during a session lasting up to about 45 minutes. A computer controls the decompression tension with parameters set by your caregiver. Spinal discs receive a break from nonstop compression and can begin to return to their normal shape and position. Most patients require a series of treatments for the best and most lasting results.
Spinal decompression with Dr. Zachary Dillow and the team at Active Care Chiropractic & Rehabilitation could be the back pain solution you’ve been seeking. Call or click to schedule your back pain consultation today.
