Spinal Decompression
We provide a unique six step process to relief from pain
We can help you to live pain-free!
Many patients at Presswood Chiropractic are saying “goodbye” to stiffness and pain and saying “hello” to a better quality of life thanks to Spinal Decompression. Patients are experiencing pain relief and restoring their bodies to normal balance, all while avoiding back surgery. Dr. Alan Presswood has advanced training in spinal decompression treatment, a non-invasive process that restores function to patients’ degenerated spines.
Spinal decompression does not include any invasive procedures. The process relies on hydration, special exercises for ligaments and muscles, spinal decompression table treatments, and adjustments. For many patients, risky back surgery can be avoided through spinal rejuvenation.
Dr. Presswood has refined a six-step process for Spinal Decompression to bring you back to optimal health and wellness.
~ Dr. Alan Presswood, D.C.
Schedule a FREE consultation with Dr. Presswood today. Call 636-395-0399.
Learn more about our six-step process for spinal rejuvenation:
Step 1: Hydration
Your body must contain the necessary amount of water and minerals before any therapy can be effective. The human body is 70% water, and the nervous system is 90% water. Water is needed for nearly all body functions, including oxygen exchange in the lungs, digestion and elimination of body toxins and wastes. Water is the transport medium for minerals and vitamins that are needed for tissue and cell growth and repair. For spinal rejuvenation, water is especially needed for the function, repair, and growth of avascular white tissue, including ligaments, cartilage, joints, and spinal discs. At Presswood Chiropractic, we’ll teach you how to re-hydrate your body and reach proper hydration. Not all water is the same. Your body needs water that is slightly more alkaline (about 7.5pH) than our blood (about 7.3pH). When water pH drops below 5.8, the body cannot absorb certain vitamins and minerals from our food. Did you know that many types of distilled and bottled water are acidic and referred to as “dead water” because they are devoid of minerals and tend to further dehydrate the user? Most patients with musculoskeletal problems are already severely dehydrated, and patients who age more rapidly than their years are often found to have a body composed of only 50% water instead of the usual 70%. Therefore, proper hydration is a critical first step.
Step 2: Muscle Exercise
Without exercising the muscles, patients would spend 75% of their treatment time on the decompression table getting through spastic muscle before the patient would experience any improvements to the spinal discs and ligaments. Muscle exercises include use of the thoracic roll, 6-way stretch exercise, wobble chair, and over-the-door cervical traction. Working out the muscles prior to traction will prepare your body for traction, as well as draw some of the water and nutrients directly into the exercised tissues. Our decompression table uses an added feature of whole body vibration during the treatment, which causes an immediate response into the muscles. This whole body vibration gives a benefit of nearly doubling the effect of the treatment time on the white tissues (discs and ligaments). After treatment, the patient usually can feel heat in the area treated due to the direct vibratory effects of increased vascular and neurological response in the tissues.
Step 3: Ligament Exercise
The white tissues (discs and ligaments) are given therapy and exercise during this crucial stage. Along with the muscle exercises mentioned in Step 2, the spinal disc material begins to change into a soft gel-like quality that can be stretched. It is equivalent to plastic being heated up before it is remolded.
Step 4: Decompression/Adjustments
Now that you’ve reached Step 4, you’re ready for treatments on the specially designed spinal decompression table. The stretching on the decompression table creates a negative pressure that draws bulging disc material inward and back between the vertebrae. Combined with all the other steps of the spinal rehabilitation process, spinal decompression treatment allows the outside spinal material to heal. Sometimes the patient feels quick relief of symptoms, but actual healing takes months as treatments change scar tissue to a more useful healthy tissue. Spinal adjustments also are made on individual problem areas, usually at the maximum stress points of the spine.
Step 5: Body Weighting
After decompressing and adjusting the spine, we need to restore the body’s proper curves by using weights, targeting the muscles that control the body’s posture. The body makes a corrective response to these weights, and in time this procedure remolds the spine back into its proper configuration of curves. Remember how in Step 3 exercises were performed in order to heat up the gel in the discs much in the same manner as plastic is heated up? Now, as this gel cools down, a molding process occurs. We are molding the body curves back to normal, relieving pressure and restoring motion into the discs.
Step 6: Muscle Strengthening
Injury prevention is as important as treatment. Now that we’ve completed the treatment steps, the final step … and ongoing step … is to strengthen the muscles that support your frame. We teach isotonic and isometric exercises that strengthen the body’s two main flexor groups. Muscle strengthening helps stabilize the weakened areas and prevent re-injury. By continuing simple exercises at home (5-10 minutes daily), you’ll maintain a healthier body you’ve achieved through the spinal decompression process. All six steps of the spinal decompression process are crucial, and the final step will teach you how to maintain a healthier, happier life.
