05-06-2008, 08:54 PM
Grumpyguy, regarding spinal decompression, here's what a local (to me) chiropractor's office is selling: http://www.drreebdrx.com/DECOMPRESSION.htm and a link to the machine that they used to advertise as using to achieve their results, the DRX9000 https://axiomworldwide.com/DRX9000.aspx.
A couple of things regarding the spinal decompression machine:
1) $5000 up front to start the treatments which must be repeated 2 times a week to start (so you had better be fairly close to where the machine is) AND this line of treatment is unlikely to be covered by your health insurance.
2) The chiropractor's site I included above used to vaunt their usage of the DRX9000 all over their website (when I was investigating treaments about 16 months ago). I can no longer find reference to their equipment on the site.
You should take your MRI films to a spine specialist and have them go over the films with you. They would be able to tell you what you're dealing with beyond the herniation. Things like degeneration of the surrounding vertebrae or occlusions into nerve canals.
In my case (which I had posted in your previous herniated disc thread http://forums.macresource.com/read/1/447...msg-447211), a neurosurgeon and an orthopaedic surgeon noted that a large piece of the disc had been torn off the main body and had lodged in a nerve canal. No amount of 'spinal decompression', therapy, or epidurals would have fixed my problem. I went with the neurosurgeon and had the operation at the end of February 2007. The two weeks following the surgery were absolute horror, but my wife tried to wait on me hand and foot while I maintained a reclining position for as long as possible. After that recovery period, I was in heaven. Felt absolutely brand new, to the point that I built a deck that summer, by myself - stupid move. A couple of days of stiffness after that fiasco and things relaxed. I've been pretty much without pain since - so long as I respect my back and don't abuse it.
Other things to keep in mind: heat is used to relax muscles that are in spasm. If your back is 'ceased up' or tight because of muscle twisting or spasm, then use heat to help alleviate the problem. Heat also causes things to expand so if you use heat to treat pain that's being caused by the herniated disc pressing on a nerve you're not helping the situation. In fact, you may be hurting yourself as the heat warms and expands the disc to press further on the nerve and/or allow more of the disc to be exposed to damage caused by the vertebrae pinching. Icing the back helps numb an area and cause contraction of the soft tissue (the disc). Never ice more than twenty minutes at a time.
A couple of things regarding the spinal decompression machine:
1) $5000 up front to start the treatments which must be repeated 2 times a week to start (so you had better be fairly close to where the machine is) AND this line of treatment is unlikely to be covered by your health insurance.
2) The chiropractor's site I included above used to vaunt their usage of the DRX9000 all over their website (when I was investigating treaments about 16 months ago). I can no longer find reference to their equipment on the site.
You should take your MRI films to a spine specialist and have them go over the films with you. They would be able to tell you what you're dealing with beyond the herniation. Things like degeneration of the surrounding vertebrae or occlusions into nerve canals.
In my case (which I had posted in your previous herniated disc thread http://forums.macresource.com/read/1/447...msg-447211), a neurosurgeon and an orthopaedic surgeon noted that a large piece of the disc had been torn off the main body and had lodged in a nerve canal. No amount of 'spinal decompression', therapy, or epidurals would have fixed my problem. I went with the neurosurgeon and had the operation at the end of February 2007. The two weeks following the surgery were absolute horror, but my wife tried to wait on me hand and foot while I maintained a reclining position for as long as possible. After that recovery period, I was in heaven. Felt absolutely brand new, to the point that I built a deck that summer, by myself - stupid move. A couple of days of stiffness after that fiasco and things relaxed. I've been pretty much without pain since - so long as I respect my back and don't abuse it.
Other things to keep in mind: heat is used to relax muscles that are in spasm. If your back is 'ceased up' or tight because of muscle twisting or spasm, then use heat to help alleviate the problem. Heat also causes things to expand so if you use heat to treat pain that's being caused by the herniated disc pressing on a nerve you're not helping the situation. In fact, you may be hurting yourself as the heat warms and expands the disc to press further on the nerve and/or allow more of the disc to be exposed to damage caused by the vertebrae pinching. Icing the back helps numb an area and cause contraction of the soft tissue (the disc). Never ice more than twenty minutes at a time.