Putting an End to Back Pain Without Surgery

NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- October 19, 2006 -- It's one of the most common complaints in medicine: an aching back. How to get rid of the pain is a hotly debated subject in the medical community. Americans currently undergo surgery for lower back-pain at a higher rate than any other country.

"Eighty percent of back surgeries are unsuccessful after only two years," says Dr. Howard Goodman, chiropractor and director of the New York's Park Avenue SpinalAid Centers of America. "Surgery is not the best solution for most people."

According to researchers at Duke University, the medical cost of back pain comes in at about $25 billion annually and another $25 billion is spent on workers compensation and lost time from work.

Spinal decompression therapy is a new treatment that has been available for just a couple of years but already has an 86-percent success rate according to a published study by The American Journal of Pain Management. The rehabilitation therapy focuses on decompressing the discs to alleviate the pressure on the spinal nerves that can build up as a result of bulging, herniated, protruding or ruptured discs. The therapy can also help relieve pain caused by joint arthrosis, facet syndrome, sciatica, mild spondylolisthesis and stenosis.

"When a disc is injured, its nucleus -- or what is known as pulposus -- oozes out causing pressure to the surrounding nerves," says Goodman. "Spinal decompression takes the pressure off the disk so the pulposus can return to the nucleus which eliminates the pain."

Spinal decompression is painless and involves lying on a table face up with your body fully supported by a harness. The high-tech table will then adjust to create negative pressure, a vacuum-like effect on the lower back. The therapy was discovered somewhat by accident when astronauts started reporting cured back pain after returning from space missions. It was the lack-of-gravity principles that helped develop the machine, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Previous low back therapies have involved a method known as "traction," which offers minimum results since the muscles of the spine contract and prevent the discs from being decompressed. The new therapy fools the muscles into relaxing which allows the escaping pulposus to retract back into the disc and alleviate pain to the spinal nerves.

In most cases patients receive a 45-minute session, 3 to 5 days a week for 4 to 6 weeks. At the conclusion of the treatment series, patients are taught specific strengthening exercises and instructed on ways to avoid re-injury. The cost of the treatment ranges between $3,000 to 5,000, but compared to surgical treatments that can cost upwards of $40,000, many back pain suffers say the therapy is well worth it. Patients in the New York area (including Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and New Jersey) can receive a three-day trial free of charge by calling 877-4-low-back (877-456-9222).

Contact Information: Media Contact: Amy Summers 727-848-1618 ext. 202 Email Contact Pitch Inc.