Do you have Spinal Compression Syndrome?           

Please answer the following questions
Do you have a dull neck ache or low back pain with prolonged sitting or driving?
Do you develop a dull neck or low back pain after activities of lifting or bending?
Do you develop a dull neck or low back pain with prolonged standing?
Does your neck or low back ache first thing in the morning and then diminish with walking and activity?
Have you been told that you have a degenerative spinal disc?
Have you been told you have a spinal disc protrusion, bulge or herniation?

If you answered YES, please call to schedule a biomechanical examination at our office.
Everyone at some period in their life may experience spinal compression syndrome.  It is the most common type of low back pain.  The human body by design is susceptible to mechanical stresses on our spine as a result of gravity, walking and sitting in an upright posture.

What is Spinal Compression Syndrome?
Research work that I performed while employed as a biomechanical engineer at the National College of Chiropractic Spinal Joint Research and Ergonomics Laboratory, confirms the presence of a condition I call the Spinal Compression Syndrome, SCS. 
This is not considered a specific trauma with associated inflammation, swelling and tissue damage, but an accumulation of mechanical stresses on the vertebral segments of the spine.  The areas of the lumbar lower back and lower cervical neck regions are particularly susceptible to compressive stresses as a result of seated postures, bending positions and lifting activities. 
The intervertebral disc or IVD acts as a cushion or sponge filled with fluid that absorbs the compression but will creep and compress with time if the compressive forces are not removed.  This is what happens when we sit for prolonged periods while driving a car, working at a computer all day or sitting at a desk. 
By nature, our body is designed for movement, and by changing positions from sitting to standing to walking we release compressive stresses on our spine.  Over time if the compression is not released, then spinal compression syndrome or SCS develops and hence a subsequent chronic daily dull neck ache or low back pain.  If not released it is one common cause of spinal arthritis as a person ages.

It's in the research:
In the laboratory, the research study I performed showed a pattern of changes that occurs to the spine when SCS develops.  These include a loss in spinal segment mobility, a loss in spinal range of motion and flexibility, localized muscle spasm around the compressed spinal segments, loss of relaxation response of the back muscles when forward bending and a decrease in the abdominal muscle to back extensor muscle strength ratio. 
What this means is that the normal biomechanical function of the spine is changed when SCS develops.  Instead of the spinal compression stress releasing as we walk and change postures, the SCS persists causing a mechanical low back pain.  The support of the spine is lost due to the decrease in back muscle strength and now the IVD is at a higher risk of disc injury if the compression is not eliminated.  Will doing abdominal exercises cure this problem?  A common approach to back pain is to do abdominal exercises, which in this case will not solve the problem. 

Treatment for SCS
The specific treatment for SCS that will resolve this condition is SIVD.  SIVD or Spinal Inter-Vertebral Decompression procedure is a doctor controlled manual manipulation method which specifically releases compression between the inter-vertebral segments of the spine.  It is performed on a special table designed for this purpose with the patient lying on their stomach.  The procedure is the most gentle form of spinal manipulation available and is used with patients into their 80's with success in alleviating their low back pain. I would like to note that many patients feel immediate relief of their neck and low back pain within two to three treatments because SCS is a mechanical compression of stress on the spine and is not due to inflammation or trauma.  So as soon as the compression is released, you feel an immediate decrease in pain.

We use Safe Flexion-Distraction SCS Spinal Decompression Therapy   

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