Decompression Therapy Can Improve Disc Height

Introduction

Everyone worldwide has suffered from some reasonable amount of injuries in their spine. The spine is part of the musculoskeletal system that holds muscles, tissues, ligaments, and spinal cavities. In the spine, round, cushion-like discs are sectioned in each vertebra that helps protect the spine and spinal cord. As the body ages, so do the spine, causing the cushion-like disc to become stiff and compressed until they start to crack the outer layer. This crack allows the inner layer of the spinal disc to leak out and bulge out of the spine. This bulge then starts to press on the spinal nerve roots connected to the spinal cord causing the person to feel pain. When this happens, non-surgical treatments are available to help restore the spinal disc to the spine and allow the irritated nerve root to relax and repair itself. Today’s article explains how to take care of our spine, what happens when disc herniation is, and how decompression therapy can restore spinal discs and increase their height in the spine. Referring patients to qualified and skilled providers who specialize in spinal decompression therapy. We guide our patients by referring to our associated medical providers based on their examination when it’s appropriate. We find that education is essential for asking insightful questions to our providers. Dr. Alex Jimenez DC provides this information as an educational service only. Disclaimer

Can my insurance cover it? Yes, it may. If you are uncertain, here is the link to all the insurance providers we cover. If you have any questions or concerns, please call Dr. Jimenez at 915-850-0900.

Taking Care Of Your Spine

Feeling wear and tear on your back? Do you feel stiffness in your joints as you twist and turn? How about aches and pains in random places in the lumbar or cervical area of the body? When something like this happens to the body, it could be how you take care of your spine. In many previous articles, the spine is an S-shaped curve part of the musculoskeletal system that allows the body to do everyday movements that help a person move around. When a person injures their back, their spine usually takes damage in pulled muscles, stiff joints, a momentary sense of instability when getting up, and low back pain. Research studies have stated that when there are spine disorders in the back, it can involve the entire intervertebral disc, joints, and tissues that are connected to the spine. 

Spine disorders are also associated with low back pain issues, causing them to lower the quality of life in a person and, if not treated right away, hinder their ability to move around. Additional information has mentioned that contributing factors affect when acute or repetitive trauma starts to cause low back pain issues. Compressing the spinal disc repeatedly through overtwisting and turning can increase the chances of internal disc disruptors and disc instability. When this happens, disc herniation does occur in the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine.

Disc Herniation

When there are spine disorders associated with low back pain, disc herniation is one of the factors for back sufferers. Studies have defined that disc herniation occurs in the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine, causing the spinal disc’s outer layer to crack and expose the inner walls to bulge out, causing the spinal nerve roots that are neck to them to be irritated and compressed. When the nerves start to become affected, it can cause pain and dysfunction in the spinal cord. Disc herniation can also progress to severe causes like loss of sensory and motor functions to the lower half of the body and lower back, causing muscle weakness. More research studies have stated that since disc herniation is so common for many people, it can be the pathogenesis of sciatica to develop. All is not lost, as there are treatments that provide the necessary relief for the spine and restore the intervertebral disc back to its original function.

Disc Height & Decompression- Video

Have you been experiencing numbness around some regions of your back? How about muscle stiffness that is occurring around your neck and lower back? Does it hurt when you stretch, and the pain radiates down your leg? Experiencing these symptoms is due to disc herniation and can cause severe spinal issues that affect the back and the spine. The best way to restore the spine is through spinal decompression therapy. The video above describes how spinal decompression can help improve spinal functionality by increasing the disc height and reducing the pain signals through gentle traction on the spinal disc leaving the nerve roots alone. This will allow the individual receiving spinal decompression therapy to have their sensory and motor functions back in their lower back and legs. Suppose you want to learn more about decompression and how it can benefit you in providing relief from disc herniation? This link will explain what decompression offers optimal comfort for disc herniation in the spine.

Decompression Therapy Helps Increase Disc Height

Since disc herniation has been associated with issues affecting the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine, some treatments are available to help with disc restoration, and it is none other than decompression therapy. Research studies have shown that when individuals go in for decompression therapy, they are first lying down on a traction table and are strapped in. This allows the provider to adjust and change the direction where the opposing force will begin to reduce the pressure that the herniated disc has caused on the irritable nerve root while increasing the hydration back to the cracked outer layer of the spinal disc. The continuous effects of spinal decompression allow the intervertebral disc to increase its height between the spinal columns and reduce the herniated material. Spinal decompression therapy can also help alleviate other low back and neck pain symptoms that a person could be suffering from.

Conclusion

Utilizing treatments to take care of the body can allow it to live longer and reduce other ailments that can hinder one’s functionality. Overall, spinal decompression therapy can help restore spinal disc herniation by causing anti-gravitational or negative pressure on the spinal canals and help restore the functionality of the spine. Incorporating decompression therapy as part of a wellness lifestyle can benefit most people who suffer from low back and neck pain. Without it, many people will suffer from chronic pain and spinal issues that can cause them to become miserable

References

Choi, Jioun, et al. “Influences of Spinal Decompression Therapy and General Traction Therapy on the Pain, Disability, and Straight Leg Raising of Patients with Intervertebral Disc Herniation.” Journal of Physical Therapy Science, The Society of Physical Therapy Science, Feb. 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4339166/.

Dydyk, Alexander M, et al. “Disc Herniation – Statpearls – NCBI Bookshelf.” In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL), StatPearls Publishing, 18 Jan. 2022, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441822/.

Raciborski, Filip, et al. “Disorders of the Spine. A Major Health and Social Problem.” Reumatologia, Narodowy Instytut Geriatrii, Reumatologii i Rehabilitacji w Warszawie, 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5090028/.

Tariq, Rayhan A, et al. “Back Safety – Statpearls – NCBI Bookshelf.” In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL), StatPearls Publishing, 29 Nov. 2021, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519066/.

Vialle, Luis Roberto, et al. “Lumbar Disc Herniation.” Revista Brasileira De Ortopedia, Elsevier, 16 Nov. 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4799068/.

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