If you’ve ever experienced back pain, you know it can be debilitating. Walking up the stairs, bending over to pick up a pencil you’ve dropped, or even just driving to work and incite great pain.
For those experiencing such discomfort,
If you’ve ever experienced back pain, you know it can be debilitating. Walking up the stairs, bending over to pick up a pencil you’ve dropped, or even just driving to work and incite great pain.
For those experiencing such discomfort, it might be the only thing they can think about, consuming many of their waking hours.
What Causes Back Pain?
Back pain isn’t uncommon.
In fact, pain in the back is the third most common reason for a visit to the doctor’s office. This type of pain is also the reason for more than 264 million missed workdays in a year, according to the American Chiropractic Association.
General back pain can be caused by anything from sprained ligaments to ruptured discs to irritated joins to strained muscles.
Added complications such as arthritis, psychological stress, poor posture, and obesity can also make back pain much worse.
What Is Spinal Cord Compression?
Spinal cord compression — anything that puts undue pressure on your spine— can be caused by an action as simple as glancing down at your phone, spending hours hunched over at your desk, wearing high heels, or an injury. All of these things can cause the vertebrae and nerves in your spinal cord to become pushed together, which can translate into intense, unbearable back and neck pain.
With spinal cord compression, you might also experience symptoms such as pain and stiffness in your back or neck or burning pain in your arms or down your legs,
For some people with back or neck pain, it seems like they’ve tried everything: relaxing, hot baths, deep-tissue massages, even acupuncture sessions. But these treatments might only temporarily put a halt to the pain, and they might not even give patients any relief.
Thankfully, chiropractors can help.
They are health professionals who have extensive knowledge of both the nervous system and spine and, more importantly, how they work together. Chiropractors are comparable to a mechanic that gives your car a tune-up. A weak spine — similar to a malfunctioning car engine — can cause serious issues. A chiropractor can give your back and spine a tune-up and ensure you’re ready to go.
Although back pain can sometimes correct itself — and can happen along with minor changes, like changing the shoes you wear or switching to a firmer mattress — more often than not, you’ll need to recruit the help of a professional such as a chiropractor.
Chiropractors can stimulate your spine’s muscles and bones to align your spine correctly and get rid of the pain and discomfort you’re experiencing. They might also recommend treatment in the form of spinal decompression therapy.
What Is Spinal Decompression?
Chiropractic spinal decompression is a method of correcting the spine by gently stretching it to remove pressure on the pinched nerves or herniated or injured spinal disks. This treatment can help encourage the flow of oxygen, water, and fluids into the discs, which are the gel-like pads between the bones that keep the spin together.
By relieving pressure on your back’s nerves, non-surgical spinal decompression is said to help lessen pain and improve function.
This procedure shouldn’t be confused with surgical spinal decompression, also known as laminectomy or microdiscectomy.
Does Spinal Decompression Work?
Chiropractic spinal decompression does work for some people with chronic back pain.
It can provide relief for people with painful, disabling conditions such as herniated or bulging discs, degenerative disc disease, injured spinal nerve roots, or spinal stenosis. It can also help those with lower back pain, those suffering from an injury from a car accident, sports injuries, sciatica, or pain in the neck.
At Beach Pain Center, Dr. Noorani is a chiropractor who has treated many patients using chiropractic spinal decompression.
During a spinal decompression treatment, a chiropractic doctor will put a harness around your pelvis to secure your position. Depending on the device used, you might either lie flat, face down or face up on a decompression table. You’ll be able to relax on a comfortable, heavily padded bed as the traction machine stimulates your back, which can help the healing process.
The majority of these spinal decompression systems function through a computer, so a chiropractor or other health professional can alter the traction force and the angle of the traction easier.
When you’re going through chiropractor spinal decompression treatment, the vertebrae in your spinal columns will tenderly separate from each other. This separation causes a vacuum effect with the bones of your spine, so the vacuum will draw in water and fluid to the discs in your spin, ultimately allowing for more spinal mobility.
This water and fluid acts as a gentle cushion and stops the vertebrae from rubbing up against each other, which can cause pain or discomfort.
These treatment sessions can last anywhere from 30-45 minutes, and you might have to go a few times over a period of a couple of weeks. It all depends on the severity of your neck or back injury. While sometimes it might take only a month, other patients might need longer than three months.
The amount of treatments you receive also depends on how often you come into the Beach Pa