Q: Do I have to bring along results from previous spinal-cord tests (x-rays, MRIs, CAT scans, bone densitometries, etc.)?
Yes, please provide us with any other test that would give the clinic doctors the clearest possible insights into your spinal condition. The doctors here may even send you for a special imaging test if your situation warrants.
Q: Is it better to have someone come with me for my appointments?
Yes, we strongly recommend that you bring a loved one or significant other with you when you get your assessment results at your second appointment. It’s important for this person to understand both your health issues and the treatment options you have.
Q: What’s the difference between spinal decompression and an inversion table?
Inversion tables, which you can buy both on TV and at specialty stores for a few hundred dollars, tap into the effects of gravity to stretch the back. Specifically, the table stretches your superficial muscles, providing some relief for minor ailments like muscle stiffness; however, it has zero effect on discs that might be bulging, herniated or otherwise affected.
Q: What’s the difference between spinal decompression and traction table?
To truly decompress discs, you need a machine that produces traction only when your stabilizing muscles are relaxed. During standard traction treatment, your muscles actually tense up (a reflex designed to protect your back), so decompression literally can’t take place.
What’s more, because our back muscles contract at a rate of every 50 milliseconds, you need a machine that can beat that pace. Enter SpineMed decompression, where computer-controlled tension comes every 20 milliseconds. Traction therefore happens only when your muscles are relaxed; this in turn provides true intradiscal decompression (as much as -100 mm Hg). Standard traction machines don’t counteract the body’s natural muscle-contraction speed.
Q: What’s the difference between spinal decompression and flexion-distraction table?
Flexion-distraction (stretching) involves applying a line of pressure on a specific area of the backbone or spinal column. The technique can be performed both manually by the chiropractor and automatically, with the patient’s feet secured to a special table. Though flexion-distraction tables can work for some back ailments (enough so that we do have one at our clinic), their ultimate effectiveness is still limited by reflex contractions of the spine’s stabilizing muscles that hamper actual decompression.
Q: How long does each treatment session last?
Each session takes roughly 45 to 50 minutes.
Q: Do I need to tell my family doctor that I’m undergoing spinal decompression treatments?
Though you’re in no way required to tell your doctor, we recommend that you do so. Whenever a doctor or another health professional refers a patient to us, we always keep them informed of how treatment is progressing.
Q: If spinal decompression is that effective, why do we hear so little about it?
Spinal decompression (more technically axial vertebral decompression) is relatively new in Québec. The technique has produced excellent results for thousands of patients, and it’s now used on more than 3,000 people worldwide every day.
These amazing, clinically proven results are prompting more and more health professionals to recommend disc decompression, and its growth internationally as a standard treatment for spinal-column ailments bears witness to that.