New Concepts In Back Pain Management: Decompression

In many working individuals with back pain, how does non-surgical decompression achieve pain reduction to the intervertebral disc in pain management?

Introduction

Low back pain is a common complaint in the workforce. It can cause individuals to miss work, become disabled, and frequently visit their primary doctors. Many factors contribute to the development of low back pain. You may have experienced constant back muscle aches from sitting down and hunched over a computer. Or maybe you have felt your back muscles strain from carrying heavy objects from one location to another. Carrying equipment around your hips, like a utility belt in construction or a law enforcement job, can also contribute to back pain. These scenarios can all be related to the development of low back pain. When the lower extremity muscles are over or under-active, it can cause muscle and tissue fibers to shorten or become overstretched. This can lead to tiny nodules known as trigger points forming. Additionally, repetitive motions caused by overload axial pressure can compress the lumbar spinal structure and cause the spinal disc to care constantly. However, there are ways to manage low back pain. By focusing on common issues associated with each back pain syndrome, non-surgical treatments like spinal decompression can achieve pain management for the intervertebral disc. As we work with certified medical providers who use our patients’ information to treat working individuals suffering from low back pain combining non-surgical decompression as part of their routine can alleviate the pain-like symptoms. We inform them about non-surgical treatments to ease low back pain issues while achieving pain management. We encourage our patients to ask essential questions while seeking education from our associated medical providers about their situation. Dr. Alex Jimenez, D.C., provides this information as an educational service. Disclaimer

Each Low Back Pain Syndrome Is Common

When it comes to low back pain, many individuals will come to their primary doctor and inform them that they are in constant pain in their lower back. As stated earlier, repetitive motions from normal factors can cause the back muscles to be over or under-stretched, causing muscle aches. At the same time, the spinal discs are constantly being compressed with unnecessary pressure. When the spinal discs are under constant pressure, they can begin to bulge or herniate, depending on the severity of the issue. To that point, the compressed spinal discs can aggravate the spinal nerve roots to cause referred localized pain down to the legs or arms, causing symptoms of numbness or tingling sensations in the hands and feet. Low back pain has four categories that can affect many individuals and has different treatment pathways. (Bogduk & Twomey, 1991) These four categories can vary with intense symptoms that pertain to the pain and how they were developed. These include:

• Acute muscularity (can involve sciatic radiation)
• With or without neurological dysfunction
• Chronic muscularity (can have recurring symptoms)
• Neoplastic low back pain (can have frequent symptoms and become progressive)

These four categories of low back pain all have common features, as well as regional pain, muscle impairment, mechanical dysfunction exacerbated by daily activities, and mood/behavioral changes. Additional low back pain can be specific or non-specific, associated with many working individuals. Many individuals dealing with low back pain will often work through the pain rather than find the proper relief because of that fear of missing out on work. (Becker & Childress, 2019) Luckily, many ways exist to reduce low back pain and alleviate compressed spinal discs.

Revolutionizing Healthcare-Video

Have you or your loved ones felt aches and pains in your lower back after regular activities? Do your legs and lower back feel stiffer than usual when walking with heavy equipment? Or do you hunch or slouch constantly while relaxing on a chair or sofa? Many of these factors are the root cause of low back pain, and it can affect a person’s routine without treatment right away. When many individuals deal with low back pain in the workforce, they often try home remedies to alleviate the pain temporarily to get back to work, only to cause more issues in the future. To that point, this causes the working individual to be under constant pain and miss out on work, which then causes more unnecessary stress and pressure on the lower back. Luckily there are available treatments that can reduce the effects of low back pain and ease the minds of many individuals looking for cost-effective and safe options. Non-surgical treatments for low back pain are safe for the spine and can be cost-effective to help manage the pain associated with compressed spinal discs and allow people to be more mindful of their back and spine. Non-surgical treatments can range from chiropractic care to spinal decompression, depending on the severity of the pain that the person is experiencing. The video above goes more in-depth with how non-surgical treatments can revolutionize healthcare.

The Biomechanic Principal Of Decompression

When it comes to individuals trying to find relief for their low back pain, many will opt for traditional surgical treatments if the home treatments are not working. While conventional surgical treatments can provide more rapid relief, they can be pricey and cause a financial burden to the working individual. Hence why many will often seek out non-surgical therapies. (Schoenfeld & Weiner, 2010) Non-surgical treatments are affordable to the active individual and can be customizable depending on the issue. One of the non-surgical treatments is decompression. Decompression incorporates mechanical traction to gently stretch the spine as a distracting force to realign the spine back to normal, increase the body’s fluids and nutrients to promote healing factors, and relieve abnormal pressure on the nociceptive receptors system. (Judovich, 1954) The effects of spinal decompression allow the spine to regain mobility, stability, and reduction of low back pain, allowing the compressed spinal disc to return to its original position.

The Decompression Benefits For Common Occurring Back Pain Syndrome

During the mechanical traction process of spinal decompression, the spinal disc space is slightly increased, which reduces the lumbar disc protrusion and causes the disc herniation to disappear over time after a few sessions. (Andersson, Schultz, & Nachemson, 1983) These are a few benefits of spinal decompression, as traction therapy can also alleviate additional musculoskeletal disorders associated with low back pain. (Bettmann, 1957) Musculoskeletal disorders associated with low back pain can be treated with spinal manipulation combined with decompression, as it is used to improve spinal and hip mobility in the lower extremities, thus reducing pain and incapacity in people with low back pain. (Fagundes Loss et al., 2020) Additionally, mechanical traction from decompression can help inhibit positive results for many individuals looking for relief from mechanical stress from their backs. (Wegner et al., 2013) Spinal decompression can help reduce low back pain and its associated symptoms for many working individuals who want the relief they deserve.

References

Andersson, G. B., Schultz, A. B., & Nachemson, A. L. (1983). Intervertebral disc pressures during traction. Scand J Rehabil Med Suppl, 9, 88-91. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6585945

Becker, B. A., & Childress, M. A. (2019). Nonspecific Low Back Pain and Return To Work. American Family Physician, 100(11), 697-703. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31790184

Bettmann, E. H. (1957). Therapeutic advantages of intermittent traction in musculoskeletal disorders. GP, 16(5), 84-88. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13474126

Bogduk, N., & Twomey, L. T. (1991). Clinical Anatomy of the Lumbar Spine. Churchill Livingstone. books.google.com/books?id=qrJqAAAAMAAJ

Fagundes Loss, J., de Souza da Silva, L., Ferreira Miranda, I., Groisman, S., Santiago Wagner Neto, E., Souza, C., & Tarrago Candotti, C. (2020). Immediate effects of a lumbar spine manipulation on pain sensitivity and postural control in individuals with nonspecific low back pain: a randomized controlled trial. Chiropr Man Therap, 28(1), 25. doi.org/10.1186/s12998-020-00316-7

Judovich, B. D. (1954). Lumbar traction therapy and dissipated force factors. J Lancet, 74(10), 411-414. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13221967

Schoenfeld, A. J., & Weiner, B. K. (2010). Treatment of lumbar disc herniation: Evidence-based practice. International Journal of General Medicine, 3, 209-214. doi.org/10.2147/ijgm.s12270

Wegner, I., Widyahening, I. S., van Tulder, M. W., Blomberg, S. E., de Vet, H. C., Bronfort, G., Bouter, L. M., & van der Heijden, G. J. (2013). Traction for low-back pain with or without sciatica. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2013(8), CD003010. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD003010.pub5

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