Spinal Care System

Low back pain is one of the most uncomfortable problems and is also very common. People sit at their desks, or their computers, all day and drive to and from work - and, thus, their future back problems are created. In fact, low back pain is one of the most significant medical and socioeconomic problems in modern society. International guidelines call for evidence-based management for the pain and disability associated with musculoskeletal disorders.

This very likely led to a randomized, controlled trial to address the question of the efficacy and appropriateness of vertebral axial decompression. Called 'VAX-D therapy,' this is a new technology that has been shown in clinical research to create negative intradiscal pressures. For this reason, it has been shown to be effective in treating patients presenting with chronic low back pain and associated leg pain. Successful outcome was defined as a 50% reduction in pain utilizing a 10 cm Visual Analog Pain Scale and an improvement in the level of functioning as measured by patient-nominated disability ratings.

Patients were randomly assigned to VAX-D or to TENS which was used as a control treatment or placebo. Several tables claim to perform non-surgical decompression of the spine. However, VAX-D has by far the greatest number of studies attesting to its efficacy. Such studies consistently indicate between a 71%-80% success rate with one study reporting an immediate resolution of symptoms in 86% of the participants involved.

Research shows that Spinal Decompression Therapy at the level of the Intervertebral Disc lowers intradiscal pressure to a negative range, thus creating a vacuum effect. This negative intradiscal pressure is responsible for a decrease in the size of the disc herniation/bulge and a resultant decrease in pain and pressure on the nerve root. It has been demonstrated that during Spinal Decompression Therapy, the vertebral bodies are distracted or separated.

This results in a negative intradiscal pressure creating a "vacuum effect." The resulting vacuum effect creates a reduction of disc herniation size that relieves, or takes 'pressure' off, the spinal nerves. The effects of Spinal Decompression Therapy at the level of the nerve can be measured by several Methods. An article in the Journal of Neurological Research reported an average pain reduction of 77%. DSSEP's measured an improvement in 61% of nerve root responses.

A small pilot trial in the Canadian Journal of Clinical Medicine reported that a 90% improvement on nerve function with 14/22 nerves (64%) returned to normal function and 6/22 (27%) improved when measured by CPT. Research demonstrating the effects of spinal decompression therapy on intradiscal pressure were studied in the Journal of Neurosurgery. The results indicated that axial decompression reduced the intradiscal pressure significantly to negative levels in the range of -100 to -160 mm Hg. An article in another journal reported that a 90% reduction in disc herniation size could be seen at the critical point of nerve root impingement in 71% of patients when pre-treatment and post-treatment MRI examinations were performed. Torn annulus repair is seen in all patients.

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