The Problem
The international insurance rating and information company, A.M. Best, estimates that low back pain alone costs Workers' Compensation, insurance companies, and employers in excess of $50 billion per year. Some estimates exceed $100 billion. Many procedures such as surgery not only fail - but can eventually leave patients with other problems to contend with, such as compromised surrounding discs, scar tissue, infections, and additional surgeries. CBS News estimates there are 80,000 unnecessary spinal surgeries in the U.S. each year.
This is Spinal Technology at its Best
At White Sands Physical Therapy & Aquatics (WSPTA), we have pioneered in the development of protocols that have been very effective in dealing with spinal problems - from the neck into the low back. These protocols are unique to us and have been very effective in solving spinal problems when all previous attempts at intervention have failed. Our spinal protocols (termed non-surgical spinal decompression) are safe and have enabled hundreds of patients to avoid more invasive procedures, such as epidural injections and spinal surgeries.
These protocols are mechanically-based and have a lot of proven science behind them. Our protocol has proven effective in treating herniated or protruded discs, radiculopathies, spinal stenosis, sciatica, facet arthropathies, among other diagnoses.
The lower back is involved in 80% of all back injuries.
The total number of spine operations in the U.S. approaches 500,000 annually.
The majority of back surgeries are compromised within 5-7 years.
Spinal surgery ranks 3rd among all surgical procedures.
When disability payments are calculated into the total cost of lower back problems, the cost to American industry for low back pain is astronomical.
Lower back pain is one of the most frequent complaints voiced during primary care visits.
8 out of 10 people will visit a physician for back pain.
5.4 million Americans are disabled annually.
4 million of those Americans are permanently disabled.
10% of all low back pain episodes will become chronic.
Back Pain is the most frequent reason for activity limitation under age 45.
Back pain is the #1 cause of work absence after colds & flu.
Back pain results in an estimated 93 million workdays lost each year.
Only 50% of injured workers ever return to work if absent for 12 months or more.
The cost of low back pain exceeds that of any other single health disorder.
How does the VAX-D machine work? High intradiscal pressures cause discs to bulge out and press painfully on nerve roots. this pressure also causesa a compressed, anaerobic environment unsuitable for healing. Decompression produces and sustains negative pressures within the disc, thus creating a vacuum effect that draws in nutrients and fluids to promote the repair of injured discs and surrounding tissue. This vacuum also aids in the retraction of escaped cushioning gel from herniated discs. How can a negative be a positive? In the same way that the air pressure in a car tire can be calculated, scientists have been able to use pressure sensors to measure the various pressures put on spinal discs while lifting, standing, sitting, laying down, undergoing traction and during VAX-D therapy. Like other pressures found in the body such as blood pressure, intradiscal pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg). While traction,physical therapy and manipulation may reduce disc pressures to as low as 40 mmHg, only VAX-D has been shown to actually achieve negative pressures within the spine. Clinical studies have shown that, with VAX-D Therapy, negative pressures as low as -160 mmHg are created within the injured disc during the treatment session. Traction is not the same as spinal decompression. With traction, weights are added one by one to the end of the traction bed, which in turn, adds tension to a harness secured around the patient's pelvis, lengthening the spine. The intention is to relieve pressure. Unfortunately, the linear force of this traction can produce spasming, which may lead to greater injury. Studies have shown that the benefits of traction come from simply immobilizing the spine. In fact, the Quebec Task Force ruled in 1996 that traction was not an effective treatment for chronic herniated discs. The results of traction are not long lasting and cannot produce negative pressures in the disc. Decompression also lengthens the spine, but the approach is very different. And this difference is what makes all the difference. Understanding the Logarithmic Difference Normally a pull exerted on the spine triggers sensory receptors in the back which signal the muscles surrounding the vertebrae and discs to tighten in an effort to protect them from injury. This is a mechanism in the body known as the proprioceptor response. VAX-D therapy is able to detect, and then bypass this response through a patented motion-controlled biofeedback system which allows the back to relax completely. With the body's natural protective mechanism "distracted," VAX-D can administer tension without causing injury. The Technology is the Solution Spinal experts have known for decades that discs, in a compressed, anaerobic state, find it next to impossible to heal. With decompression therapy, negative pressure is created in the nucleus pulposus (the jelly-like center of discs) drawing in moisture, oxygen, and nutrients from the surrounding body tissues. The disc wall (or annulus fibrosis) of the nucleus pulposus is thus strengthened after each decompression mimicking the same healing and repair process that occurs in a bone fracture. In this revitalized environment some experts surmise this process reactivates fibroblasts (the repair workers in the disc), allowing them to repair tears in the disc wall. This hypothesis has recently been confirmed with pre- and post-treatment discograms, and in the long-term relief of chronic back pain patients, some who have suffered more than 20 years. The spinal decompression system "distracting process" has been shown by MRIs to widen the discs height space allowing a decrease in intradiscal pressure while helping the disc reposition itself. This results in a shrinkage of the hemiation, and a reduction or elimination of pressure on surrounding nerves. While results do vary, most back pain patients who have completed spinal decompression therapy resume their normal, active lifestyle with their newly invigorated discs providing better support to the spine. This group of patients includes long term chronic or post-surgical failures.As part of the treatment series, the patient is taught mobilization and core strengthening exercises, and is shown how to minimize the chance of re-injury through use of everyday mechanical principles. How astronauts have added to our knowledge of disc repair & regeneration. Astronauts working in the anti-gravity state found that their narrowed disc spaces actually grew in height. This means that the anti-gravity state of the therapeutic pool provides an ideal environment for applying decompressive stresses to the spine. This therapeutic modality, along with a strict exercise program & careful attention to avoid most recompressive positions/postures of the spine provide an ideal environment to achieve discal regeneration & healing. The VAX-D & MTD 4000 spinal decompression machines are an integral part of this approach. The VAX-D has demonstrated in studies the capability of exerting 160 mmHg stress on lumbar discs to draw gel contents back into the center of the disc & reduce the hemiation. (Traditional pelvic traction could not come close to placing a negative stress on nuclear discal contents.) If the affected discs can be kept decompressed for a sufficient period of time, healing will take place in the hemiated area & the disc will, in effect, be strengthened and capable of a more normal support/shock-absorbent function that it originally served. Does spinal decompression work for spinal stenosis and for facet arthropathy? With healthy discs capable of reducing stresses on other supporting spinal structures, we can achieve positive results with these problems as well. At White Sands Physical Therapy & Aquatics, we have designed totally unique protocols that maximize the body's inherent capability to heal itself. We are utilizing a combination of technological advances in spinal care that have occurred over the past 20-30 yrs. In the process, we are establishing a new standard for non-surgical spinal care.
