"StandUpRight News" by Dr. Donaldson

Healing After a Herniated Disc Takes More Than Just a Core Exercise Program

Milwaukee Board Certified Chiropractic Orthopedist and Sciatica Doctor writes:

Finally. A day without leg pain!

So you've overcome that nasty sciatica. No more shooting pain into your leg whenever you hit a bump while driving your car. No more having to drag yourself home after work and lie on the floor all night just to find a bit of relief. Maybe you can even stop the medication that knocks you out and constipates you for days on end.

The worst thing in the world would be for the pain to come back once you have had some relief. Sure, you are happy that you feel better. That's a good first step. But getting the pain reduced is only one step toward solving the problem that caused the pain in the first place. So let the healing begin.

Whether the direct cause of your sciatic nerve pain is a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, facet syndrome or piriformis syndrome, as the nerve pain begins to lessen you need to be paying close attention to your lifestyle so you can change the habits that got you into such a condition.

Most disc herniations and lower back problems come from deviated posture, repeated loading of the spine over time, or long periods of sitting like in some office jobs. Long-sustained immobile postures create stiffness of the joints. Long periods of sitting are the perfect setup for this. Then the joints accumulate fluid and become stiff. With long periods of immobility on a daily basis you develop chronic postural overload and adaptive muscle shortening.

Sometimes Gravity is not your friend.

So when working to reverse the deterioration process that caused the disc problem, we want to not just re-hydrate the disc and reduce any herniations but also strengthen weak muscles, lengthen restrictive muscles, restore correct posture, and relearn how to sit and stand properly.

This is where most disc rehabilitation programs fall short. Once the pain is gone and the movement restored, you are marched right into a trunk strengthening program, maybe they call it a Core program or something like that. But the problem with most of these programs is that they rely primarily on strengthening muscles, sometimes just one muscle, sometimes entire muscle groups. And they are nearly always symmetrical, done the same on both left and right sides.

But it is not just a matter of strength. You can't just do a ton of situps and expect your back to get better. You can't just do Swiss ball training and expect the disc to recover. Most spine researchers think that you only really have to increase the strength of your back about ten percent to handle the load. Best results happen with proper rehabilitation and that requires improvement not just in strength, but mostly in coordination and flexibility of the entire spine.

And if your program is simply balanced right to left, you probably are not dealing with the asymmetry that caused the problem. You may just be building the asymmetry even stronger and setting yourself up for another problem in the future.

It is not at all uncommon in our sciatica and herniated disc treatment programs for the real breakthrough to come only after we address areas of the body away from the herniated disc. The areas that are malfunctioning and transferring the force onto the herniated disc and then onto the sciatic nerve.

In addition to developing new activity habits you also will benefit from not doing the things that will put the pressure back on the nerve. You do not want to increase the compressive forces on disc with loading, so no sit-ups or flexion of your back and especially do not flex your spine immediately upon rising in the morning (like brushing teeth) or after long periods of driving.

Once you have healed your disc as good as it can get it usually doesn't take a lot of your time or effort to keep it healed. Your goal should be to heal it once and keep it healed.

While it may take a little extra work on your part, making the favorable changes in your lifestyle and daily activities now will set the stage for increased mobility, less pain and better health as you age.

If you or someone you know has a herniated disc or the symptoms of sciatic nerve related leg pain, call us at (414) 355-0433 to schedule a Complimentary Consultation with Dr. Donaldson to find out if you qualify for one of our StandUpRight Spinal Disc Decompression programs or request an appointment online.

Mind Over Disc

Milwaukee Board Certified Chiropractic Orthopedist and Sciatic Pain Doctor writes:

The other day while my daughter was at work, I changed the burned out headlight in her car. I left the dead bulb on the passenger seat just like the real car mechanics do. When she got into the car after work she was able to see that there was a dead bulb there. The new bulb worked. The old one didn't.

Seeing the dead bulb lying on her seat did not affect the performance of the new bulb. The new one shined just as bright as if she had not seen the dead one lying there. 

Apparently people aren't like lightbulbs.

A new study in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry shows the importance of the mind in creating a positive treatment result.

A group of adults underwent the simplest of back surgeries, a microdiscectomy, for removal of a prolapsed intervertebral disc that was causing sciatic leg pain. Afterwards, half of the group was shown the herniated disc material that was removed, the other half was not. Then between three and six months later they were asked about the results of the disc surgery, comparing how they were after the surgery with before the surgery.

If the person had not been shown their disc, 44% of them had no improvement in leg strength, 39% had no improvement in leg tingling and 30% had no improvement in drug use.

Amazingly the people who had been shown the herniated disc material after surgery reported greater improvements in every outcome measure including leg pain, back pain, limb weakness, and tingling in the leg. More of them also reported reduced drug use compared to those who had not seen their disc.

The authors concluded that presentation of excised disc fragments is a cheap and effective way to improve outcome after herniated lumbar disc surgery.

Did you get that?

Just showing people the herniated disc material that had been cut out of them made them better six months later!

It is amazing that it would affect the outcome of the surgery so dramatically.

Another study in the journal Pain of people after back surgery found that people who were fearful of movement or reinjury, people who had passive pain-coping strategies and people who didn't expect a good outcome before the surgery ended up having more disability and more severe pain after the surgery.

These studies show how important a positive attitude is to your recovery from a problem. This applies to whatever approach you take to your back problem. Having a positive attitude, expecting good recovery, trusting that you will get better, and actively working on your rehabilitation will maximize your results.

Healing is not just what happens, it is what you make happen. Expect to get better. Stick to your diet recommendations. Be religious with your exercises. Then you will be creating your own healing. It just shows how powerful the human mind really is.

If you or someone you know has a herniated disc or the symptoms of sciatic nerve pain in the leg, call us at (414) 355-0433 to schedule a Complimentary Consultation with Dr. Donaldson to find out if you qualify for one of our StandUpRight Spinal Disc Decompression programs or request an appointment online.

Turn Your Bad Back Into a Good Back

Milwaukee Board Certified Chiropractic Orthopedist and Bad Back Doctor writes:
You didn't start out with a bad back. In fact you didn't start with a back at all, not even a front! You started out round...as just a single cell. So there wasn't a front or a back. 

Everything that is you developed from that one cell. And through the miracle of life, that one cell became two, then four, then eight and on and on and on... until organs formed and you became recognizably human.

Of course you probably don't remember much about when you were one cell. But at some instant you became aware that there was something happening around you that you didn't cause, and likewise, that you could have an effect on your environment that persisted over time.

You achieved a degree of intentional conscious control over parts of your body. Then you could move from place to place and keep yourself oriented upright in gravity at the same time. That's kinda important. It is much easier to walk when your feet are on the ground rather than on the wall.

Day after day, year after year, your body has adapted to the stresses of its' environment. Sitting in school, lying in bed, lifting, bending, carrying, being carried, all these postures are positions you use to allow yourself to do the things you want to do every day.

In effect, you create your own posture in response to the stresses of your environment and in accordance with the genetic programming of your cells. 

If you respond to gravity favorably then your spine develops strong and mobile. Then, with a little attention on how your body feels in its' various postures you can build a nice upright posture and keep your spine healthy for a lifetime.

But just like you can build your back strong and mobile, over time you can actually develop a bad back because of the way you treat it and what you have done in your lifetime. Sitting posture, sports injuries, car accidents, work stresses and strains, and even nutritional factors, all of which were under your control.

All the tissues of the body including the bones of the spine, the muscles, and the ligaments were developed according to the genetic pattern of that one cell. Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to orchestrate the parts and make them work together.

So if what you have now is not working for you, maybe it's because you never really were shown how to claim ownership of your back.

Failing to own your back results in just allowing anything to happen. You may be lucky and get through without a disaster or even an episode,  but the chances are about 80% that your back will make you pay attention to it at least once in a while. And if it hasn't yet, that doesn't mean it won't.

Some people are willing to ignore the signs and think they're too busy to accept the responsibility for their health. Then they become victims of their environment. Don't be one of them.

You can take control and make your back do what you want. You can take charge of your health. But you have to be the one who cares more about your health than anyone else. And you can learn how to stay healthy.

You can start by turning your bad back into a good back.

If you or someone you know has a bad back or the symptoms of herniated disc, spinal stenosis, sciatica or degenerative disc disease call us at (414) 355-0433 to schedule a Complimentary Consultation with Dr. Donaldson to find out if you qualify for one of our StandUpRight Spinal Disc Decompression programs or request a free appointment online.

Warbler's Neck Can Be a Real Pain

Milwaukee Board Certified Chiropractic Orthopedist and Neck Pain Doctor writes:

Tonight the skies will be filled with migrating birds of all kinds. The NexRad radar shows swarms of them moving northward with the warmer weather. So this weekend birders will be out in force.

It will be a particularly great time for spotting warblers. Warblers are tiny birds that fly from as far away as South America to northern Canada and back each year. Spring is the best time of year to see them since the trees are still bare and the birds are in their spring breeding colors, making identification easier than when they make their return trip South in the fall.

After a long night flight, they rest and feed during the day. On a good day you may be able to identify two or three dozen different species of warblers in your own neighborhood park. With names like Yellow Warbler, Orange-Crowned Warbler, Hooded, Palm, Prairie, Black-throated Green, Bay-breasted, Chestnut-sided, Golden-winged, Yellow-throated, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Blue, and Black-and-White Warbler it's no wonder so many people love the challenge of spotting them.
 
To magnify the challenge these tiny nervous birds never stop moving as they flit from branch to branch searching for food. And they are nearly always way up in the tree-tops. Most people never even see them.

It is common among birders to spend hours at a time during this time of year with head tipped back looking up into the tree-tops. If you have ever done it for a few hours you have likely experienced the dreaded Warbler's Neck.

Warbler's Neck feels like someone set a brick on your upper back and neck. It is caused by a combination of holding binoculars up to your eyes, tipping your head backward and contracting the muscles in your upper shoulders.

This can get pretty miserable and for some people may be dangerous. The constant presure on the joints, muscles and nerves can aggravate an underlying neck problem and may progress into headache, arm pain, arthritis or chronic neck pain.

But it doesn't have to. You may be able to stop it in its tracks with a little preparation before you go out birding.

Prior to the birding season, practice by strengthening your neck muscles. Do this by pretending someone is pushing directly backward on your nose moving your head straight backward. No tipping, just directly backward. Hold that for ten seconds at a time and repeat it ten times.

A couple hours before your go out drink an extra quart of water, maybe mix a bit of sea salt in the water for some extra minerals, or some magnesium powder to help relax your muscles.

When in the field you may benefit from a binocular harness. This can prevent the binocular strap from hanging on your neck and gives you more support from your shoulders.

While looking into the tree-tops, don't raise your shoulders up toward your ears when watching. Don't use only your neck while looking upward. Start from your knees in a bit of flexion, arch your back backward a bit. Instead of raising your chin to look upward, just tip your entire neck backward so there is no specific stress point.

Then after you have called it a day and tallied up your list you will become more aware of the brick that is laying on your shoulders.  That's Warbler's Neck.

Once it has hit you, go lie down on your back. Roll a bath towel into a cylinder and place it under your neck to support the normal lordotic curve. Let your head fall gently down over to the floor to relax the muscles.

If you are careful you can use a hot pack set on LOW and laid over the towel. Do not fall asleep on this hot pack, set a timer for twenty minutes. Too long and too hot and you will burn your skin (maybe badly, so keep it on low and don't fall asleep). After that you may replace the hot pack with ice to help with the pain.

If the pain persists more than a day or two, or if you have headache, arm pain or any unusual symptom then schedule an appointment for a spinal evaluation. There may be an underlying problem that you need to address.

If you haven't ever seen a warbler, now it the perfect time. Besides being outside making yourself some Vitamin D, birding is an inexpensive hobby, it is very relaxing. You don't have to go far and we have some of the best opportunities to see lots of migrants right here in our neighborhood.

And if you develop Warbler's Neck, well, now at least you know how to deal with it.

Here's some photos of warblers you might see. (Thanks to Mike McDowell of Middleton WI.)
http://www.birddigiscoper.com/avian.html

And here's some local birding hotspots
http://www.schlitzauduboncenter.com/
http://www.friendsofhavenwoods.org/
http://mequon.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7BFD4B1DF5-A151-49E9-A3D2-876FBF56F22F%7D
http://www.friendsofwehr.org/wnc.htm

If you or someone you know has Warbler's Neck or any other spinal problem, call us at (414) 355-0433 to schedule a Complimentary Consultation with Dr. Donaldson to find out if you qualify for one of our StandUpRight Spinal Rejuvenation programs or request an appointment online.

What is the Best Way to Heal a Herniated Disc?

Milwaukee Board Certified Chiropractic Orthopedist and Herniated Disc Doctor writes: When you cut your finger it heals. When you sprain your ankle it heals. Healing is one of the defining characteristics of living tissue - like growth and reproduction.

Herniated discs can heal too. But like a finger or an ankle if you don't create the proper environment for the healing process, the healing will be incomplete and may leave you with an ongoing problem.

So what conditions can you create that will allow for the herniated disc to heal itself?

1. You can feed your body a non-inflammatory diet to speed up the processing of the pain-producing chemicals. A non-inflammatory diet is low in oils and simple carbohydrates but provides three portions of low-fat protein per day. 

2. You can eat vitamin- and mineral-rich foods and supplements that will give the disc's remaining healthy cells the energy, tools and building blocks they need to rebuild strong disc material. If you have other chronic health problems you may require a personalized dietary plan to bring your body back to more normal function.

3. Once the body has the proper vitamins, minerals and fuel you can help get the nutrition into the disc. On its' own this process takes hundreds of days. But by decompressing the disc using the DRX-9000, our non-surgical disc decompression machine, we give the disc the best chance to build new fibers and to re-hydrate with water. This is what allows the right amount of pressure to be maintained inside the disc and the disc can heal quicker.

4. Then, by using the right combination of posture re-training exercises you can restore mobility to the bones of the spine, restore the normal curve in the lower back, and then align the upper body on top of the lower part. This will bring the body back into alignment on top of the pelvis so any abnormally concentrated force is reduced on the damaged disc. If you keep the pressure off long enough for the ligaments to heal, the muscles to strengthen and the nerve system to develop new programming then you can build enough strength to avoid re-injury.

If your goal is to heal the disc then evaluate your options with regard to these requirements.

Does the treatment, therapy or procedure you are considering help the disc heal? If so, then it is at least headed in the right direction and has a good chance at not just relieving the pain but restoring more normal function and preventing the same thing from recurring in the future.

Or does it destroy even more tissue leaving you with the same factors that caused the problem in the first place?

It's your body. You need to decide what you are willing to allow to happen to it.

If you or someone you know has lower back pain, sciatica or a herniated disc, call us at (414) 355-0433 to schedule a Complimentary Consultation with Dr. Donaldson to find out if you qualify for one of our StandUpRight Spinal Disc Decompression programs or request an appointment online.

Will Non-Surgical Spinal Disc Decompression Help Me?

Milwaukee Board Certified Chiropractic Orthopedist and Disc Herniation Doctor writes:

When you hire a doctor to help you solve a health challenge, you want the doctor to have some insight into how your body works and why you are not be able to overcome your current challenge. The doctor is a resource for information and recommendations that help you to create a plan to change your condition.

You rely on the doctor to expertly observe your condition and make the recommendations that will safely and effectively allow your body to overcome the barriers to healing itself. If the doctor has been able to select the proper problems to address with you and if you comply with the recommendations then you have the best opportunity to get better.

All healing of herniated discs, degenerated discs, and other spinal tissue problems occurs as the result of an internally generated repair-and-replacement process. Any interference with this process will diminish the effect of the healing efforts of the body. Since disc material has no blood supply it takes a year and a half for nutrients to be circulated in and out of the disc. It heals very slowly, even slower than a sprained ankle. You can take the pressure off your ankle with crutches but you have to use your spine all day long.

Interferences can be in the form of mental, physical or chemical strains or stresses. There can be weakness in the internal structure of the disc due to poor nutrition or circulation. If there is a flat foot or twisted pelvis or loss of the normal curves then there will be additional strain on the spine. Emotional stresses from financial, family or job difficulties can lead to abnormal muscle tension or stress hormones. Other frequent interferences include smoking, working too hard and too soon on injured or healing tissue, a pro-inflammatory diet or other poor nutrition, a leg length inequality or other structural problem that focuses stresses on the damaged tissues. Even drugs and prior surgeries can interfere with the normal healing process.

The most effective treatment plan you can follow will include the reduction of as many interferences as possible based on the doctor's expert evaluation. The more of these factors you are able to reduce or remove the greater the likelihood you will have more complete recovery. Overlooking any significant interference will result in a frustrating outcome.

By training the doctor has access to a set of additional tools and equipment that you do not have. This is why you hired a doctor in the first place. The tools and equipment are essential for the job but are only as helpful as the expertise with which they are applied.
 
To remove the physical stress on the disc, the most effective and safest method is using non-surgical spinal disc decompression. We use the DRX-9000 for this purpose. It is a tool that allows us to accomplish a specific physiological effect of restoring improved function to the disc.

Feel confident that the decompression procedure always does the job of rhythmically opening and releasing the spinal bones. From this aspect it always works. It is a physical force applied to a physical object and may be expected to follow the laws of physics resulting in a known physical effect.

While decompression therapy is an important part of a disc recovery plan, in most cases the best result comes from using it as one tool in a more comprehensive plan and not as an isolated step.

If you are not healing as rapidly as you would like to, first talk to your doctor. There may be additional steps that can be taken to minimize more of the interfering stresses and allow more rapid healing. And then check and see if there are lifestyle changes you can make that will allow your body to progress with less interference.

Above all, be patient. Healing takes time.  The stuff in your disc takes a full six months to heal properly. We've seen people who have slow recovery initially but their pain relief improves over the next several months as the tissue heals. So let it heal. Don't overload during the healing process. Remember to avoid the BLT (Bending, Lifting, Twisting) activities.  Too much, too soon will 'rip the scab' and undo all the time and effort you put into fixing the disc in the first place.

And if the doctor recommends additional treatment or rehab therapy, DO IT. You have to get enough work on the tissue to make the change. Remember the old Greek myth of Sisyphus? He pushed a boulder up the hill but always quit before he reached the top so the boulder rolled back down the hill again. If you don't do enough, then there is not enough healing and the tissue never gets strong enough to be stable.

The right treatment plan includes the right work at the right place at the right time and will produce the right results.

If you or someone you know has lower back pain, sciatica or disc herniation, call us at (414) 355-0433 to schedule a Complimentary Consultation with Dr. Donaldson to find out if you qualify for one of our StandUpRight Spinal Disc Decompression programs or request an appointment on-line.

Spinal Stenosis Requires Special Care

Milwaukee Board Certified Chiropractic Orthopedist and Spinal Stenosis Doctor writes:

The spinal cord is the lifeline of your body. Messages flow from your body up to your brain and then back down to the body in an amazing communication cycle that allows perfect coordination of all your body parts 100% all the time from birth to death, as long as the cord is working properly. 

The spinal cord snakes from your head to your pelvis through the canal formed by the holes in the back side of your vertebrae.

Usually there is plenty of room inside the canal for the cord to flop around a bit. The spinal fluid circulates nicely around the cord and allows the cord to be cushioned and nourished adequately.

Over time poor posture causes settling of the spine. As the spine settles the ligaments inside the canal may fold inward and make the canal narrower. This leads to choking of the spinal cord. The settling also leads to a reactive overgrowth of the bone both around the disc and at the joints along the back. You may have been told you have arthritis. Well, this is what the arthritis really is - a reactive overgrowth of bone due to abnormal force.

This closing around the cord is called spinal stenosis. It can be a progressive choking that may affect one or more levels.

As this occurs,the messages from the brain down the spinal cord to the feet and from the feet back up to the brain are interfered with causing static-like messages to be transmitted.

Your legs become weak and you start to have difficulty getting up from a chair. Balancing becomes difficult. Sometimes you don't notice it until you try to stand on one leg for a while. Then you feel like you wouldn't pass the sobriety test. As the pain worsens in the back and the legs you may notice numbness in your thighs or legs.

This gradual worsening of disability may not be noticed for decades but can become gradually more debilitating. Some people can't walk for more than a block without stopping and sitting down due to the pain. You may catch yourself leaning over the shopping cart to support yourself as that is one of the only relief positions you can find.

By the time you are getting concerned about losing your mobility the process is already very advanced. Surgery is sometimes recommended and may help for a while, depending on the type of surgery. But you may outlast the surgery and have the problem return. Sometimes another surgery is not an option.

Conservative care is often the best option, even after you have had surgery.

The most important goal of care must be to elongate the spine to allow the ligaments to unfold and the cord to become more mobile. Unless the cord is lengthened the stenosis will return.

Non-surgical spinal decompression using the DRX9000 is one of the main tools for doing this. This procedure gently and safely decompresses the discs and allows improved circulation to occur around the spinal cord.

Other important parts of the treatment plan include increasing flexibility of the spinal joints and ligaments, strengthening the posture muscles and retraining the brain to control and coordinate the posture muscles so a stress-free posture becomes automatic.

Correction of the structural cause of stenosis gives you the best chance of avoiding surgery, or even another surgery.

If you or someone you know has spinal stenosis or the symptoms of spinal stenosis, call us at (414) 355-0433 to schedule a Complimentary Consultation with Dr. Donaldson to find out if you qualify for one of our StandUpRight Spinal Disc Decompression programs or request an appointment online.

Can Solving Your Back Pain Fix the Economy?

Milwaukee Board Certified Chiropractic Orthopedist and Back Pain Doctor writes:

Low back pain is the second most common cause of disability in the United States and a common reason for missing work. People with chronic low back pain use an enormous amount of health care.  More than 80 percent of Americans will experience an episode of low back pain at some time in their lives.

And it is not getting any better.

A new study from the University of North Carolina shows that the prevalence of chronic impairing low back pain in the state increased from 3.9 percent in 1992 to 10.2 percent in 2006. The principal author called these findings "alarming." Another author said the huge increase is a sign that current treatments aren't working.

Total costs of chronic back pain are estimated at greater than $100 billion annually. That's a hundred billion wasted on treatments that aren't working.

Saving some of that money would go a long way towards fixing the economy.

Could it be that the reason why low back pain treatments aren't working is because they are directed at the wrong part of the problem?
 
The truth is low back pain is not a disease. It is not a thing. It can not be solved by covering it up with drugs or by cutting it out. 

Low back pain is a process. And chronic low back pain is a long-standing process. Years and years of gradually worsening or recurrent episodes of poor function, leading to weakening, leading to overload and tissue damage.

The solution to a worsening process is to modify or re-direct the process so the body funtions more normally.

The time to take care of it is as early in the process as you can. At age twenty sometimes it just takes a little exercise and a few spinal adjustments to make you nearly 100%. By age forty, if you have a herniated disc, it may take a bit more work. If the spine has degenerated by the time you start, it may take more intensive work with more sophisticated procedures like the DRX-9000 non-surgical disc decompression program to slow, stop and reverse the process.

President Obama's economic recovery stimulus package includes $1.1 billion for comparative-effectiveness research into what medical procedures are helpful.

One problem to research is certainly chronic low back pain. And the best approach is to study both the process and the ways to modify or re-direct the process, not just more drugs and surgery.

If chronic low back pain could be eliminated for just one year, there's $100,000,000,000 in savings right there.

And that's change you can believe in.

Call us at (414) 355-0433 to schedule a Complimentary Consultation with Dr. Donaldson to find out if you qualify for one of our StandUpRight Spinal Disc Decompression programs or request an appointment online.

For Your Herniated Disc to Heal Properly Your Treatment Program Must Address Three Types of Tissue

Milwaukee Herniated Disc and Decompression Doctor writes:

To solve the complicated herniated disc and structural pain problems that we see, three types of tissue must be specifically evaluated and repaired. These three are:

1. Passive Spinal Tissues including spinal discs, ligaments, cartilage and bones

2. Active Spinal Tissues including muscle and associated connective tissues

3. Control Tissues including both ingoing and outgoing nerves, the spinal cord and the brain and brainstem

Our corrective procedures are designed to minimize the stresses on all these tissues and to optimize their function to allow your spine to be as close to normal as possible. Only then can you heal properly.

Water and nutrition must be supplied to all tissues of the body. The healthy spinal disc nucleus is 88% water. Degenerative discs are dehydrated and have abnormal function. We must begin with hydrating your body to achieve disc rehydration and reduction of musculoskeletal symptoms.

Muscle spasm prevents motion of the spine which will not allow spinal structural correction. We will reduce these spasms and accompanying adhesions and begin remodeling of scar tissue in old spinal injuries. This will reduce the soft tissue resistance to the structural improvement we need to make.

Alternate loading and unloading cycles are utilized to soften the hard gelatinous discs. This will temporarily remove the elastic energy from the disc so spinal change can occur. This will also aid in disc rehydration. We use a specially designed exercise chair to focus motion directly at the lowest spinal discs.

Spinal axial decompression may be required after the soft tissues have been prepared. Decompression is utilized to create motion throughout the spine. We use the DRX-9000 Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression unit for this procedure for its' safety and comfort features.

The best spinal structural correction can only be accomplished with full spinal movement. This may require alignment of the upper body on top of the lower body using specific spinal adjustments. Most herniated disc treatment programs fail at this step and leave you with less than ideal results.

We may also use head and body weights to allow structural and postural correction of the spine. This helps strengthen the muscles of the spine,restores the normal lordosis and accelerates correction of the spine.

Once these steps have achieved most of the correction, the muscles must be strengthened to allow the curves to stabilize. As the muscles strengthen they will be better able to hold the new corrected curves.

Only then can the postural coordination patterning be programmed into your nerve system so it becomes correct and unconscious. Just like any new habit, it takes time for your body to get fully adapted to these changes.

Call us at (414) 355-0433 to schedule a Complimentary Consultation with Dr. Donaldson to find out if you qualify for one of our StandUpRight Spinal Disc Decompression programs.

What Is the Theory Behind Non-Surgical Disc Decompression? How Does It Work?

Milwaukee Chiropractor and Back Pain Doctor writes: 

       An experimental study has shown than in non-degenerated, but bulging disks (something your MRI or CT scan would show), decompression can lower the pressure inside the disk.

This negative pressure may then draw or suck the displaced disk material more towards the center of the disk and away from your nerves. For many patients this can mean pain relief because a compressed nerve is a painful nerve.

If the pressure on the nerve is released, it can begin to heal.

The DRX9000™ is designed to assist the body's natural tendency to heal itself because Mother Nature sometimes needs a little help.

If the disk can be moved even a small amount away from the nerve, this can be enough to decrease inflammation and irritation. Once the pressure is off the nerve then the nerve can begin to heal. Isn't that worth a try?

What if you can avoid surgery? Or what if you could avoid another surgery?

Call us at (414) 355-0433 to schedule a Complimentary Consultation with Dr. Donaldson to find out if you or someone you know qualifies for one of our StandUpRight Spinal Disc Decompression programs.