What Is Spinal Decompression, and How Does It Work?

What Is Spinal Decompression, and How Does It Work?

Back pain can affect the quality of your life. It can prevent you from enjoying your favorite activities and doing tasks that you would usually do with ease. There are different back pain treatments.

Some, like steroid shots and medications, have side effects. They can also be not effective enough in addressing the primary cause of the pain. You may also not get the pain relief you need from back pain surgery. An estimated 10 to 46 percent of lumbar spine surgical procedures fail. Most people try to evade surgery. For them, spinal decompression may be the best treatment option.

What Is Spinal Decompression?

Spinal decompression is a treatment for different spinal conditions. It can happen surgically or nonsurgically. The nonsurgical way reduces pressure on your nerves by using a mechanical traction device controlled by a computer. The motorized traction relieves back pain.

Surgical spinal decompression helps improve symptoms dramatically for patients who do not benefit from the noninvasive method. During the procedure, your specialist relieves pressure from your spine by cutting away portions of the tissue or bone impinging on a nerve.

Why Would You Need a Spinal Decompression?

The spine plays a vital role in supporting your body. It entails the ligaments and discs that make it flexible and vertebrae or bones. A pathway for nerves runs down your spinal column in the middle of the disks, ligaments, and bones.

Spinal wear and tear or injuries can lead to pain. The discomfort or pain may result from the compression within your spine that exerts pressure on the nerves or spinal cord. To ease this pain, you will need spinal decompression.

Conditions That Spinal Decompression Treats

Below are the common reasons you may need a spinal decompression:

• Degenerative disks – The wearing out of the cushioning between the bones in your spine or vertebrae

• Bulging disks – The bulging out of the cushioning between your vertebrae

• Spinal stenosis – Herniated, bulging disks or bone spurs cause the space in your spine to narrow

• Sciatica – Your sciatic nerve gets damaged

• Pinched nerves – Your nerves get compressed or pinched, causing tingling, pain, or numbness

How Spinal Decompression Works

Spinal decompression stretches the spine gently to change its position and force. As a result, the change relieves pressure off the spinal discs. Such strain causes people to experience back pain and other related issues.

The discs in your spine cushion the bones in your backbone. So if you have a problem with your discs, your medical specialist will diagnose problems like herniated discs and bulging discs.

Spinal decompression helps your body heal by taking pressure off your spine. The treatment begins with your chiropractor having you lie down on a unique table. They will keep you in the ideal position by connecting you to a harness. They will then allow your spine to stretch out gently by moving the table in a particular way.

Safety of Spinal Decompression

Spinal decompression does not cause any pain to the patient. It is an effective and safe procedure that works noninvasively and pain-free. However, some patients can feel soreness or mild discomfort because of their spine stretching in the first treatment sessions. Many studies confirm the benefits and efficacy of spinal decompression.

For more about spinal decompression, visi t Ogden Wellness Center at our office in Ogden, Utah. Call (801) 406-3949 to book an appointment today.