Conservative care for patients suffering with Herniated or Bulging Discs, Degenerative Disc Disease or Sciatica have a relatively new advanced Non-Surgical Option. A procedure called Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression performed on a device called the DRX9000 is showing consistent results.
As with any new procedure both providers and patients should be skeptical and any claims should be backed up by research. Treatment on the DRX9000 is FDA cleared to treat chronic spinal pain from disc related problems in the lower back or neck and clinical outcomes seem to be very positive. A future blog will outline the extensive research and need for further research on the treatment. This blog is comments from leading medical doctors and chiropractors about the outcome they are experiencing with their patients.
Dr. Michael Kellis M.D Medical Director Sports Medicine, Cleveland OH comments…” By proper positioning of the body…by proper distraction of an intervetebral disc you can actually drop intradiscal pressure. The nucleus pulposis which is the inner part of the disc gets no circulation and works on diffusion. When a disc is injured the pressure rises in the disc. The point of what the DRX9000 does is that we can now drop intradiscal pressure. By doing this you allow fluids to enter the disc and allow the healing process to begin…and this is what we have found to be extremely effective. All I can tell you is that the results have been phenomenal. The theory behind the technology is sound. The medical response is sound and the acceptance among other physicians is wonderful.” “This is an option patients should have performed before surgery. It is non-surgical, non-invasive, it doesn’t hurt and the vast majority of patients are getting better. If you do respond to the treatment it will keep you out of surgery, epidurals, long spinal needles. I can tell you…this is what I would try first before I ever did anything surgical.”
Dr. Jeffery Shall M.D. Orthopedic Surgery comments “I have patients that after looking at their M.R.I…I would bet would go to surgery. They come back after a couple treatments on the DRX and tell me that their pain is starting to go away, and then after the full protocol is completely resolved… You can’t argue with that kind of success.”
Dr. Robert Hodgins Orthopedic Surgery Presbyterian Hospital Dallas comments… “With time or stress the disc may bulge or crack creating back or neck pain. If it bulges far enough it may hit a spinal nerve causing nerve pain. We can now non-surgically drop pressure in the disc, help the height of the disc and repair the structure without the risks of invasive surgery. In the great majority of cases we are able to get rid of the patients pain in cases that typically would have gone to surgery. In my experience the results are holding up quite well.”
Dr. Atencio D.C. with Texas Spine and Sports Therapy Center comments “Initial evaluation of the DRX9000 looks like glorified traction. But clinically the difference is the ability of the machine to significantly drop intradiscal pressure in the damaged disc. Before decompression on the DRX9000 traction was utilized on disc patients. Traction was very inconsistent in the outcome and often seemed to cause pain due to muscle splinting. The DRX9000 uses feed back loops to overcome the typical muscle splinting associated with traction. The pull to the damaged disc can now be precise and intradiscal pressure can be dropped enough to create a strong vacuum. This effect pulls the protrusion away from the nerve root and helps the disc to heal. The much greater drop in intradiscal pressure makes all the clinical difference for a positive outcome and changes on MRI scans. Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression on the DRX9000 should be the first line of treatment for herniated discs and degenerative disc disease in the lumbar and cervical spine. The clinical results have been very impressive.
