Spinal Decompression

What is DTS Therapy? Spinal decompression-Traction therapy is FDA cleared and has a high success rate for pain associated with herniated or bulging discs...even after failed surgery.  It is a non-surgical, traction based therapy for the relief of back and leg pain or neck and arm pain. During this procedure, by cycling through distraction and relaxation phases and by proper positioning, a spinal disc can be isolated and placed under negative pressure, causing a vacuum effect within it.

DTS Therapy is an Alternative to Surgery: Why live in debilitating pain when your condition may be resolved without surgery. If you have lower back pain, a pinched nerve, sciatica, neck pain, or a variety of symptoms related to damaged or degenerative discs, as well as syndromes of the lumbar and cervical spine, DTS Therapy may be for you. This gentle, non-surgical therapy can provide lower back pain relief, sciatica pain relief, and is a state-of-the-art therapy for neck pain relief, bulging or degenerative disc disease, and lumbar pain.

You owe it to yourself to learn more about DTS Therapy, so please Contact Us today to learn more, or to set up an appointment so we can determine if DTS Therapy is right for you.

What to expect during DTS therapy: Most patients undergoing this DTS treatment report improvements and a reduction in their pain after only a few sessions. DTS Therapy gently stretches the spine, relieving pressure from the discs, joints and muscular tissues, while enhancing the body’s natural healing process.  The gentle distractive forces of the Titron DTS creates decompression, the unloading due to distraction and proper positioning, to improve blood flow and important nutrient exchange to the injured area. This helps provide lower back pain relief, sciatica pain relief, neck pain relief, and can aid in alleviating the pain of a pinched nerve. 

Your comfort and safety are of primary importance during DTS Spinal Decompression Therapy. Therefore, unlike any other decompression device, you have several positioning options. Only if you’re 100% comfortable will you be able to achieve the ultimate objective of complete rehabilitation of your discs and spine. During DTS Therapy, you’ll experience several cycles of stretch and relaxation, which gently graduates to a peak over a period of several minutes.

Therapy sessions typically last less than 20 minutes and most patients feel pain relief with as few as 6-10 treatments. It is important to remember that pain subsiding does not directly infer that your discs and spine are fully healed.  It is critical that patients stick with the treatment protocol prescribed by their practitioners in order to achieve the full value of Spinal Decompression Therapy.

How does this negative pressure affect an injured disc? During spinal decompression-traction therapy, a negative pressure is created within the disc. Because of that negative pressure, disc material that has protruded or herniated can be pulled back within the normal confines of the disc, and allow permit healing to occur.

What system is used for this purpose? After a significant amount of research, our office chose the Triton DTS System manufactured by the Chattanooga Group, the premier manufacturer of physical medicine equipment.  More importantly, we have the brand new computerized head, which is the most sophisticated and technologically advanced unit in the world.  No other Chiropractic office in the area has this state of the art spinal decompression-traction system. 

Are there medical studies that document the effectiveness of Spinal Decompression-Traction Therapy?
Yes, many studies.  In one study (documented by MRI) done by EL. EYERMAN, MD documented in the Journal of Neuroimaging, June 1998, found up to 90% reduction of disc herniations in 10 of 14 cases and other studies reported that the majority of ruptured disc patients achieved "good" to "excellent" results after spinal decompression-traction therapy.

Are there conditions where Spinal Decompression Therapy is not indicated? Spinal decompression-traction therapy is not recommended for pregnant women, patients who have severe osteoporosis, severe obesity or severe nerve damage. Spinal surgery with instrumentation (screws, metal plates or “cages”) is also contraindicated.  Spinal decompression-traction therapy can be performed after bone fusion or non-fusion surgery.

Are the sessions painful, how many sessions will be needed and what is the cost? In almost all cases, the treatments are completely painless.  In fact, some patients fall asleep during the spinal decompression-traction session. The number of sessions needed for your specific condition will be determined by the Doctor after your examination (typically 8-24 treatments over 4-10 weeks). Our spinal decompression-traction treatment is covered by most health insurance and is very affordable for cash paying patients. Research studies & our experience supports that most patients getting Decompression-traction treatment will show relatively quick initial responses.  Most patients will tend to feel a decrease in the severity and/or frequency of one or more of the following: decreased low back pain, decreased leg/hip/buttock pain (sciatica) and/or less stiffness within eight sessions.  Response to treatment depends on these verity & type of condition. Full relief, if attainable through this passive treatment will usually be in 8 to 24 sessions. Often patients will be treated 6-8 sessions and notice enough relief to allow active rehab to begin.  Their decompression-traction will continue (pre or post rehab depending on the methods chosen) before discontinuing or reducing the frequency.

Do most patients receive therapy and rehabilitative exercises in addition to Spinal Decompression-Traction Therapy? To reduce inflammation and assist the healing process, supporting structures are treated with passive therapies (ice/heat/muscle stimulation), chiropractic adjustments (as indicated) and/or active rehabilitation in order to strengthen the spinal musculature.

Spinal Decompression different from traction? Traction is a simple static force that is put on the patients body with the intent of unloading the body's joints, muscles and other structures. For example, hanging upsidedown is a common method to put the spine into traction. Rather than one's body weight putting stress on the spine, which is what happens when standing erect, the body weight is working to unload the spine. Various forms of traction have been around for over 1000 years; however, pain relief has been inconsistent and short-lived. In fact, several clinical studies have shown traction to be an ineffective form of back and neck pain relief. The reason is unexpected, but pretty simple. Our bodies react to the static unloading of the spine by contracting, or squeezing, the muscles surrounding the spine. Rather than achieving the desired effect of unloading the spine, the pressure on the spine is actually increased, thus increasing intradiscal pressure. This does NOT allow the discs to rehydrate and heal, which is what ultimately yields pain relief.

Spinal Decompression, on the other hand, is a modified, updated form of traction. Computer technology is used to control variations in the unloading of the spine, effectively avoiding the body's muscle contraction response. Notice in the figure above that the traction tension is varied over time according to the graph. The doctor can control how many progressive tension steps are experienced by the patient before reaching the maximum tension. The doctor also has complete control over how long the tensions are held steady and how often they are repeated.

Spinal Decompression avoids the muscle contraction response. The intradiscal pressure is actually lowered to the point of being a vacuum, negative pressure. This vacuum is what allows herniated material to be drawn back into place and permits rehydration of the disc. Once the herniated material is not in contact with the nerves and the disc is in good health, pain is relieved. Spinal decompression is different from traction because it works.

How do I get started? We want to make it easy for you to learn if you are a candidate for Spinal Decompression-Traction Therapy.  Call our office to receive a decompression-traction evaluation & consultation.