Thoughts on Spinal Decompression After Performing 1000+ Treatment Sessions

I've been performing treatment plans centered around Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression for almost 2 years now, and after 1000+ treatments, I wanted to summarize some things that I've experienced using this therapy to help patients who are suffering from severe back and neck pain, and looking for an alternative to a surgical intervention.

Like watching the odometer turn over on your favorite car!

1.  Spinal Decompression is not for everyone.  I would estimate that somewhere around 15-20% of the clients that present to our office are a good fit for a decompression type program.   Probably the most important part of getting great results using this type of therapy is being able to discern who would be a good candidate, and who does not need it, or likely wouldn't respond well to it. 

2.  Spinal Decompression Programs require a lot of commitment.  The programs that I have seen yield good results require a significant commitment of time and effort on the patient's end!   Each visit to our office will last around 30 minutes, and these programs often include multiple visits per week. On the longer end, a more severe case may undergo up to 30 total visits over a period of 3 months.  On top of that there are some home exercises and a re-evaluation to boot.  It really requires that the patient is all in, and willing to commit the time and effort. 

3. The results are often incredible.  Especially for patient's who have been in long term pain, dealing with sciatica, pinched nerves, herniated discs, this intervention can be life-changing.  These client's have often tried many other therapies to alleviate or manage their condition. But spinal decompression is different.  If we can make an improvement to the actual CAUSE of the condition, and improve the health of a disc, improve disc height, and restore normal motion to the spinal joints, we can get to the ROOT CAUSE of the problem without having to perform a high risk and invasive surgery. When that happens, the results are amazing. 

4. The results are not instant.  During the course of a treatment plan, it is not uncommon for me to have to talk a client "off the ledge" so to speak.  Each session helps to improve the pliability, elasticity, and hydration of the disc or joint we are targeting. But because of this, each session builds on the last.  It's important to keep those visits reasonably close together, and stay consistent.  Over time we see the results!  Literally.  After a decompression program is completed, we take another x-ray image to compare to the pre-treatment image.  With very few exceptions we can actually measure the improvement post-treatment.  I will then make recommendations going forward, but most commonly we can reduce the frequency of care to about once a month, and have the patient continue with at-home exercises to maintain their progress.

In summary, taking extra training and seminars, and committing to honing in on the most effective protocols has been a really worthwhile investment of my time and effort. When we find the right client for the therapy, who is willing to commit their time and effort as well, the outcomes have often been remarkable. 

* As of 08/28/2024 we've completed 1166 treatments and counting :)

Stay healthy,
Dr. Korey