We work with many back pain patients in our Redondo Beach chiropractic office, and Dr. Vinick and our staff uses a variety of techniques to help get you out of pain and restore your spine's normal, healthy function. We find spinal decompression to be an effective approach.
To help you better understand spinal decompression therapy, think of the discs in your spine like small balloons filled with jello. When you compress them (which occurs due to normal living, sustaining an injury, or other medical conditions), they can protrude, placing pressure on the nerves in your spinal column. This affects your brain's ability to communicate with tissues in the rest of your body.
If the pressure on the discs becomes too high, the discs can herniate or bulge. This reduces the padding between your vertebrae and can cause pain. The purpose of spinal decompression therapy is to reduce this pressure to help improve your body's function and also reduce your level of pain.
Spinal decompression therapy relieves disc pressure through the use of a specially designed table that carefully elongates your spinal column through slow and controlled movements. This lessens the pressure placed on your discs. Some studies show an increase in disc height by as much as 1.3 millimeters after just six weeks of this treatment.
If you're wondering if spinal decompression therapy could help you feel and perform better, simply call our Redondo Beach office and schedule an appointment with Dr. Vinick today. Your optimal health is our number one priority!
Resources
Apfel CC, Cakmakkaya OS, Richmond C, et al. Restoration of disk height through non-surgical spinal decompression is associated with decreased discogenic low back pain: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2010;11(155). doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-155