Spinal Decompression Therapy

[HAOLE]

I was jwondering if anyone has went through spinal decompression therapy. It is advertised on tv in Columbus. I just bought one of the decompression tables and I am looking for more feedback of others that have been through the program.

 

Thanks

[silverhatch]

My husband is undergoing this right now. He goes to Dr. Steinmetz's in Loudenville. PM me and we can talk about it.

[RedRocket1647545505]

You mean like, an inversion table? I've thought about buying one just because I think it would be cool to spin around in circles.

[silverhatch]

The machine my husband is on actually "stretches" your spine, not just traction or inversion.

[HAOLE]

This is what I bought...triton DTS

[silverhatch]

This is the machine that my husband is on and has had good results. It's quite new and his insurance classified it as experimental and therefore wasn't covered. It was worth the out of pocket cost though. It sure beats surgery and being on disability for an extended period of time.

 

http://www.axiomworldwide.com/DRX9000.aspx

[HAOLE]

This is the machine that my husband is on and has had good results. It's quite new and his insurance classified it as experimental and therefore wasn't covered. It was worth the out of pocket cost though. It sure beats surgery and being on disability for an extended period of time.

 

http://www.axiomworldwide.com/DRX9000.aspx

 

 

That unit is over 100K new. It does work well, but is way too expensive for me to justify that type of a capital investment. The unit I bought does the exact same thing for 10% off the cost.

[silverhatch]

I knew the machine was quite expensive vs. the machine you have. The machine he's on actually pulls on the lower portion of his body creating negative pressure in the herniated disc. The negative pressure encourages the herniated portion to be "sucked back" into where it should be.

[Miller]

Dr. Rick give me a test spin on that thing.

 

<-- Guinea pig

[HAOLE]

Dr. Rick give me a test spin on that thing.

 

<-- Guinea pig

I got to buy a new supra

http://home.deds.nl/~stygmata/forumspam/jerry_laugh.jpg

[HAOLE]

I knew the machine was quite expensive vs. the machine you have. The machine he's on actually pulls on the lower portion of his body creating negative pressure in the herniated disc. The negative pressure encourages the herniated portion to be "sucked back" into where it should be.

 

The funny thing is if you take the DRX apart. It uses the same traction head as mine. I just dont have the big "case" that goes around the unit like the DRX.

[RedRocket1647545505]

do inversion table work?

[HAOLE]

do inversion table work?

 

To a certain extent... They do not provide a consistent outcome, and you have now way of knowing how much traction is being applied.

[silverhatch]

I think both machines are a great alternative to having surgery. My husband's case was very severe. I'm very grateful he has had good results. He was able to return to work in about a month and I'm sure surgery recovery time would have been considerably longer.

[kirks5oh]

do all the hocus pocus crap you want to avoid surgery (beds, pillows, chiropracters, manipulations, etc), but if you're younger than 60, and having to do all that crap to get by, you will EVENTUALLY have to be cut on--and the surgery does not get any easier with time.

 

epidural steroid shots are a great alternative to surgery, and they are covered by insurance.

[Lustalbert]

I have a disk that decided to go on permenant vacation, and that table did ok for short tem benefit, but no long term results. Relived the pain for 2 or 3 days.

[HAOLE]

do all the hocus pocus crap you want to avoid surgery (beds, pillows, chiropracters, manipulations, etc), but if you're younger than 60, and having to do all that crap to get by, you will EVENTUALLY have to be cut on--and the surgery does not get any easier with time.

 

epidural steroid shots are a great alternative to surgery, and they are covered by insurance.

 

Hocus pocus... gee lets take a knife and slice you open, poke around your spinal cord, cut out some disc, put in plates and screws, then hope you are on of the 10% that is not the same or worse after surgery.

 

Epidural are ok but work MAYBE 25% of the time.

 

And no... you dont EVENTUALLY have to be cut on. That is a choice people make. If you cruise the pubmed and look at the long term out come of surgery (greater than one year) most people are the same or worse post surgical.

[HAOLE]

I have a disk that decided to go on permenant vacation, and that table did ok for short tem benefit, but no long term results. Relived the pain for 2 or 3 days.

 

 

Where did you have it done and what was your treatment schedule? Was it decompression or just traction?

[kirks5oh]

Hocus pocus... gee lets take a knife and slice you open, poke around your spinal cord, cut out some disc, put in plates and screws, then hope you are on of the 10% that is not the same or worse after surgery.

 

Epidural are ok but work MAYBE 25% of the time.

 

And no... you dont EVENTUALLY have to be cut on. That is a choice people make. If you cruise the pubmed and look at the long term out come of surgery (greater than one year) most people are the same or worse post surgical.

 

 

epidurals work more than 25% of the time. and i can tell you that someone under 60 with major symptoms WILL eventually be debilitated and require surgery. the results are better than 90% with good results at one year.

 

i've learned that spinal surgery is ALL ABOUT patient selection: finding out which patients to operate on. greater than 75% of people over 50 years old will have an abnormal spinal MRI. if you operate on every 60 year old woman with depression and chronic back pain with some mild MRI disc signal changes and mild cord compression, than you will likely have some unsatisfied customers, and some worse off.

 

if someone needs to know the names of the better spine surgeons in the city pm me.

[silverhatch]

We had a consultation with a surgeon before he decided to go ahead with the spinal decompression. He had a before mri, and mid-treatment mri and you can definately tell the difference. Another mri will be coming up soon for him since he's almost completed with his treatments. My husband's case was very severe and worst than most. The surgeon said he needed surgery immediately but he's doing great, without surgery.

[HAOLE]

epidurals work more than 25% of the time. and i can tell you that someone under 60 with major symptoms WILL eventually be debilitated and require surgery. the results are better than 90% with good results at one year.

 

i've learned that spinal surgery is ALL ABOUT patient selection:

 

 

I bet if all you operated on was athletic body types that are non-smokers under 50years old you would have really good outcomes.

The reality is the people that go to spinal surgery are usually overweight, with poor nutrition, and do not want to do the rehab that is necessary to have a good outcome.

Why do you think most people end up with bad disc. Rarely is it a specific occurrence that leads to a bulge or herniation. That is why when MRI's are done they generally have a degenerative component that is seen. The degenerative component takes years to develop, it did not happen overnight. Therefore even though the pain they feel was brought on by the lifting and twisting the problem was underlying for years... hence the straw that broke the camels back.

 

Name a surgeon that only takes people that are fit, with good nutrtion, non-smokers, and have overall good lifestyle. Therefore patient selection excuse goes BYE-BYE.

 

As far as the epidurals... I send people for them before they go see a surgeon. They effective rate is about 25%. Again the real world plays into the outcomes and effectiveness.

[ImUrOBGYN]

Rick, is this the same thing as the one I questioned you about at your office during a Mt Vernon meet? If so, I've heard great things about it and would love to try it myself. With no current insurance, though I'm curious of the per visit cost and how many visits (approx.) I would have to goto.

[HAOLE]

Rick, is this the same thing as the one I questioned you about at your office during a Mt Vernon meet? If so, I've heard great things about it and would love to try it myself. With no current insurance, though I'm curious of the per visit cost and how many visits (approx.) I would have to goto.

pm'ed

[kirks5oh]

I bet if all you operated on was athletic body types that are non-smokers under 50years old you would have really good outcomes.

The reality is the people that go to spinal surgery are usually overweight, with poor nutrition, and do not want to do the rehab that is necessary to have a good outcome.

Why do you think most people end up with bad disc. Rarely is it a specific occurrence that leads to a bulge or herniation. That is why when MRI's are done they generally have a degenerative component that is seen. The degenerative component takes years to develop, it did not happen overnight. Therefore even though the pain they feel was brought on by the lifting and twisting the problem was underlying for years... hence the straw that broke the camels back.

 

Name a surgeon that only takes people that are fit, with good nutrtion, non-smokers, and have overall good lifestyle. Therefore patient selection excuse goes BYE-BYE.

 

As far as the epidurals... I send people for them before they go see a surgeon. They effective rate is about 25%. Again the real world plays into the outcomes and effectiveness.

 

 

not going to have the argument with you, but epidurals work, and are the BEST way to avoid surgery, plain and simple.

 

no surgeon takes ONLY healthy, fit, and young people, because like you said, they are not the ones with bad discs. but choosing who to operate on, and who will not benefit from surgery is the key to having good outcomes.

 

i have no plans to do spinal surgery in practice, or a spinal surgery fellowship, but safe to say, i know enough about it to do my side of the case when i'm in the o.r.

[Skinner]

dosen't the spine naturally decompress when lying down?