Oftentimes I receive questions from patients asking if the piece of equipment I have in my office, the amazing DRX-9000, is just a traction table.    Here I will explain the difference.

Traction has been used for many years (many even hundreds of years) as a physical therapy modality.  Traction was done in a variety of ways: a bed with weights, split or floating tables, inversion devices where you would hang upside down, etc.  But, there is a very big difference between traction and decompression. 

The problem with traction is that it offers only a straight pull and oftentimes that is not beneficial.  The spine offers a normal lordotic curve.  A traction device will pull all segments and this disrupts the normal lordotic curve.  The DRX9000 (and a few other decompression apparatuses) can isolate the diseased disc by segment and NOT disrupt the normal lordotic curvature.

In 1998, The Scientific American magazine stated that traction was of little or no value in the examination of treatments for low back pain.  The Quebec Task Force on Spinal Disorders concluded that there was no scientific evidence to support the use of spinal traction in the treatment of low back pain and discogenic disease.  Other studies report traction alone can oftentimes put a patient’s back muscles in spasm which would not effect a change in the disc and ocould cause even more pain.  Traction does not create a cavuum effect within the disc, allowing nutrients and oxygen into the disc and, therefore, the disc does not heal!

Non-surgical spinal decompression utilized by the DRX9000 (and some other machines) uses a totally computerized program and has specific parameters, angles and weight of pull which is customized for each individual’s needs.  Decompression is an FDA Cleared technology that relieves pain by enlarging the space between the discs.  The vertebrae are gently and slowly separated methodically by software attached to the spinal decompression table.   Most importantly, the DRX9000 uses a procedure called ramping, which slowly introduces the traction effect to the spine.  With this ramping, the procedure can override the body’s natural defense mechanism of tightening the muscles in response to the external pulling!  This, in turn, causes a wider spacing of the vertebral discs which then creates a negative pressure (which is decompression!) on the effected area!  Bulging disc material can actually be pulled back underneath the vertebra and off the spinal cord or nerves they are irritating.  Degenerative discs that have lost their height can be opened up to near normal heights, creating increased movement and decreased nerve pressure! 

Decompression is a science and you definitely want to have this done in an office who is very experienced in the delivery.  The Ventura Spinal Care Center has been performing spinal decompression now since 2005 and was the first in Northern Ventura County to offer this amazing technology.  We have many, many happy patients state they feel better than they have in years! 

If you, or a loved one, is suffering with low back pain due to herniated, bulging discs or degenerative disc disease, then tell them about the Ventura Spinal Care Center  and tell them to contact us at 648-7987 to determine if they are a candidate for the DRX9000.  Out purpose is to transform people’s health so they don’t have to live a lifetime of taking prescription medications and having risky surgery.  Call now!