We work with many back pain patients in our Downtown St. Louis, MO chiropractic office, and Dr. Holland 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 a highly effective approach.
To help you better understand spinal decompression therapy, think of the discs in your spine like small balloons filled with gelatin. When you squeeze 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 stress on the discs becomes too high, the discs can herniate or bulge. This removes the cushioning between your vertebrae and can cause pain. The goal of spinal decompression therapy is to reduce this pressure to help restore 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 gently 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 spinal decompression therapy.
If you're wondering if spinal decompression therapy could help you feel and perform better, simply call our Downtown St. Louis, MO office and schedule an appointment with Dr. Holland today. Your optimal health is our number one goal!
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