Can Medications, Pain Relievers Or Pain Management Procedures Be The Absolute Worst Thing For Serious Herniated Discs or Serious Neck & Back Pain? Part II

A brief word or two on epidurals and pain management procedures today.

First of all, like drugs, epidurals cannot and will not heal anything.  The reduce pain in about 50% of the cases.  However, pain relief is usually short term in many cases.

Number two.  It requires invasive needling of the spinal cord and “epidural space” or the little channel between the spinal cord itself and the internal bony aspect of the spinal canal.

Now, I am not against this procedure in and of itself.  But is not an answer to “discogenic” pain or pain originating from disc herniation, bulge and the like.  It can be helpful to patients who are in acute distress and cannot even be placed in a prone, lying down position on a spinal decompression machine to treat the disc properly or to those that have let the condition run wild and can barely move without pain.

But keep in mind that an epidural is just the use of a “liquefied”  medication that is injected in the area of the swollen or herniated disc so as to bathe it in anti-inflammatory medicine and calm it  down…temporarily.  That’s it.  No healing will be done by an epidural procedure.

The bad news is two fold:

1. If fools your body your better or “healed” and you continue with harmful activity and damage the disc further….much further.  Quite similar to the affect of oral medications.
2. Some feel that too many epidural injections can actually damage the outer shell or “annular” portion of the disc and thus weaken it further.

Both of these downside affects will often lead to significantly more serious issues and could possibly lead to permenant negative changes in the disc tissue.

So, only engage in these procedures with great caution and only if absolutely necessary.  I have a pain management doc as part of my team and these procedures are applied very judiciously for our patients.

Want to find out if you’re a candidate. Give us a call at  Waterfront Spine Institute for a no charge consultation  201-840-1980 or go to  www.waterfrontspinerehab.com for more info and instant free detailed report.

Thank you so much for visiting my site. I encourage you to leave your questions and comments below. And for more information on Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression please fill out the form to the right or give us a call at 201-840-1980

About Dr. Podell, DC: Dr. Dave Podell, DC has been in active practice for over 25 years and has seen countless numbers of the most difficult and previously failed cases.   As the clinic director of the Watefront Spine Institute in Edgewater, New Jersey, just minutes from the GW Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel and midtown Manhattan, Dr. Podell, DC runs one of the Northeast’s most advanced and evolutionary multi-disciplinary clinics for the treatment of disc herniation and associated ailments.   Dr. Podell, DC sits on the advisory board of Spinal Aid Centers Of America and trains other health care providers in the science and art of non surgical spinal decompression in his Edgewater facility.  He continues to train and advance his clinic’s state of the art spinal rehabilitation programs and is known nationwide in his field.  He is additionally certified in neurodiagnostic evaluations, Spinal Manipulation Under Anasthesia and Disability Impairment rating.  In addition to NSSD, he had received advanced training in Spinal Chiropractic Biophysics, Active Therapeutic Techniques, MedX and Spine Force Spinal Rehabilitation, Extremity manipulation, orthopedics and neurology.

Can Medications, Pain Relievers Or Pain Management Procedures Be The Absolute Worst Thing For Serious Herniated Discs or Serious Neck & Back Pain? Part I

Easily 75% of the patients who enter my office looking for relief have been on an extensive array of drugs… both prescribed and over-the-counter… And many have had multiple pain management procedures including epidiruals, nerve injections, electro or thermal “melting” of the disc (known as IDET) and the like.  Some have had 15 spinal injections or more … without significant long term relief.

However, in my opinion, the waste of time and your own or your insurance companies money is not the worst of the issues here.

The most serious issue at hand is clearly:

DELAY OF APPROPRIATE CARE AND FURTHER DAMAGE TO THE DISCS AND SURROUNDING TISSUES.

What do I mean by this?  Simply put, by masking the pain caused by the underlying damage, the patient is deceived feeling his “problem” has been solved.  But all that really happened was that the pain was artificially masked.  The patient continues to engage in activity that is damaging the delicate, pain sensitive tissue even more… but doesn’t know it because the pain killing medication either swallowed or ingested is acting as a cover-up.

Brief example:  70 something year old Craig came to see me with pain that had been progressing rapidly for 3 to 6 months but had started years before.  He had been actively engaged in tennis, mountain climbing, golfing and biking…but could only due so after downing some type of pain killer.  While he killed the pain, he was quietly destroying his discs. Then one day years later, the pain killers stopped working.

And he showed up at my door step in serious pain… and more serious disrepair.  MRI studies revealed massive degenerative decay at every level from the lower thoracic to lower lumber areas with multiple herniations and areas of instability.  He was as serious of a case as I’ve seen and I categorized him at a level 5 requiring the most serious and intensive care program I have available.

While Craig is slowly repairing and feeling somewhat better, he’ll never do better than 50 to 60% improvement.  Why?  Because he was kidding himself that drugs were making the “problem” better.  Truth is: it was the worst thing he could have done and has caused himself permanent and irreparable harm.  The tissues can never truly heal at this point.

Do yourself a favor.  Don’t kid yourself that drugs heal you. They don’t.  And there are other options.

I’ll explore more on epidurals in my next posting and how they should be used more judiciously and in combination with non-invasive rehab procedures.

Want to find out if you’re a candidate. Give us a call at  Waterfront Spine Institute for a no charge consultation  201-840-1980 or go to www.waterfrontspinerehab.com for more info and instant free detailed report.

Thank you so much for visiting my site. I encourage you to leave your questions and comments below. And for more information on Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression please fill out the form to the right or give us a call at 201-840-1980

About Dr. Podell, DC: Dr. Dave Podell, DC has been in active practice for over 25 years and has seen countless numbers of the most difficult and previously failed cases. As the clinic director of the Watefront Spine Institute in Edgewater, New Jersey, just minutes from the George Washington Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel and Midtown Manhattan, Dr. Podell, DC runs one of the Northeast’s most advanced and evolutionary multi-disciplinary clinics for the treatment of disc herniation and associated ailments. Dr. Podell, DC sits on the advisory board of Spinal Aid Centers Of America and trains other health care providers in the science and art of non surgical spinal decompression in his Edgewater facility. He continues to train and advance his clinic’s state of the art spinal rehabilitation programs and is known nationwide in his field. He is additionally certified in neurodiagnostic evaluations, Spinal Manipulation Under Anasthesia and Disability Impairment rating.  In addition to NSSD, he had received advanced training in Spinal Chiropractic Biophysics, Active Therapeutic Techniques, MedX and Spine Force Spinal Rehabilitation, Extremity manipulation, orthopedics and neurology.

Can A Herniated Disc Cause Sciatica Or Severe Leg Pain??? PART II

Can non – surgical decompression help with conditions like Sciatica.?  The answer is this:  If evaluation reveals you have a compression injury such as bulge, herniation or protrusion on an MRI and your doctor determines this to be the cause of your sciatic pain……. Then there is a very good chance that Non Surgical Spinal Decompression could be the answer to your problem.

As noted in PART I, when the disc gets squished, the internal disc material probes outward thus compressing or irritating the adjacent local nerves which go down your legs.

Non Surgical Decompression (NSSD), in the vast majority of cases, can reverse the high intra-disc pressure drawing the bulging disc centrally while drawing in vital nutrients and fluids which will help heal the disc in the longer run.  When successful, the pressure and inflammatory chemical reaction is eased…. and your sciatic pain goes away. Without medications, invasive epidural injections, routing physical therapy or surgical interventions.

Basically, decompression technology “fools mother nature” sneaking under the muscle reactions and spasms and opens up the disc space, creates the negative pressure and heals the disc.   The healing is usually long term and most patients do not require endless treatments or even maintenance once they have gone through the program.   Some people fell better almost immediately in a couple of sessions while for others the procedure takes a longer usually due to the severity of the underlying damage.

This affect of’ “negative pressure” has been proven repetitively in setting whereby a herniated disc patient has electronic pressure sensors inserted inside the disc.  The internal disc pressure drops dramatically once the proper thresh\hold is reached creating a vacuum like phenomena which will begin to draw in fluids to the interior of the ‘squshed” disc.

In time, most of the worst sciatica cases feel much, much better and are healed in the long term with proper application of Non Surgical Decompression procedures.  The procedure is relaxing, easy for the patient and painless.

Want to find out if you’re a candidate. Give us a call at  Waterfront Spine Institute for a no charge consultation  201-840-1980 or go to www.waterfrontspinerehab.com for more info

Thank you so much for visiting my site. I encourage you to leave your questions and comments below. And for more information on Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression please fill out the form to the right or give us a call at 201-840-1980

About Dr. Podell, DC: Dr. Dave Podell, DC has been in active practice for over 25 years and has seen countless numbers of the most difficult and previously failed cases. As the clinic director of the Watefront Spine Institute in Edgewater, New Jersey, just minutes from the GW Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel and midtown Manhattan, Dr. Podell, DC runs one of the Northeast’s most advanced and evolutionary multi-disciplinary clinics for the treatment of disc herniation and associated ailments. Dr. Podell, DC sits on the advisory board of Spinal Aid Centers Of America and trains other health care providers in the science and art of non surgical spinal decompression in his Edgewater facility. He continues to train and advance his clinic’s state of the art spinal rehabilitation programs and is known nationwide in his field. He is additionally certified in neurodiagnostic evaluations, Spinal Manipulation Under Anasthesia and Disability Impairment rating. In addition to NSSD, he had received advanced training in Spinal Chiropractic Biophysics, Active Therapeutic Techniques, MedX and Spine Force Spinal Rehabilitation, Extremity manipulation, orthopedics and neurology.

A Few More Things You Should Know About Spine Pain, Herniated Discs And How Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression (NSSD) Can Help

My first blog gave you just a really brief intro to Spinal Decompression as an alterative to drugs, surgery and invasive injections.  Most patients with advance conditions like disc herniation or degenerative problems are confused.   In my opinion, there’s a lot of misinformation floating around and poor application of NSSD.  People want to know the following:

• Can NSSD really help me or is it just hype?
• What causes herniated disc?
• Why the other therapies, including surgery, may not work for you?
• Am I a good candidate?
• Is it uncomfortable to have the procedure?
• Is it safe and is it effective?
• Will it help in the long run or will I just get short term relief?
• Can I exercise during my treatment?
• Should I do other therapies at the same time like acupuncture, chiropractic care, etc..
• Can I still work or do my household chores?
• Which decompression technology is the best?
• How long do treatments take and how many do I need?
• Does insurance over the NSSD treatment program?
• How do I find a good decompression clinic and doctor?

And many, many more……

Well, I can’t answer all those in one posting, so I’ll go slowly and I’ll pick the first question on the list for today.

Can decompression therapy NSSD really help you or is it just hype?

In a word, YES IT CAN HELP.   AND, NO… IT IS NOT JUST HYPE.   But… keep in mind that every case is different and not every case of serious spine pain is an appropriate candidate for the procedure.  And it doesn’t’ “work” for everybody.  Surely no therapeutic procedure has a 100% success rate…but…for properly chose candidates… the success rate is quite high.

Non surgical decompression is very powerful tool in the hands of the skilled health care provider.   There is a plethora of research and, in my office, everything we do is scientific and “evidence based”.   There is no hype, no delusions and no smoke and mirrors. However, you’re all different and every case varies in their needs such as which decompression technique is best suited to you, how many sessions you may need, etc,….

For properly evaluated and chosen candidates (1 of 3 who come to see us are absolutely and unforturanately  NOT candidates), NSSD can have truly remarkable success and can be an excellent alternative to more aggressive procedures.

Want to find out if you’re a candidate. Give us a call at  Waterfront Spine Institute for a no charge consultation  201-840-1980 or go to  www.waterfrontspinerehab.com for more info

Thank you so much for visiting my site. I encourage you to leave your questions and comments below. And for more information on Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression please fill out the form to the right or give us a call at 201-840-1980

About Dr. Podell: Dr. Dave Podell has been in active practice for over 25 years and has seen countless numbers of the most difficult and previously failed cases.   As the clinic director of the Watefront Spine Institute in Edgewater, New Jersey, just minutes from the GW Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel and midtown Manhattan, Dr. Podell runs one of the Northeast’s most advanced and evolutionary multi-disciplinary clinics for the treatment of disc herniation and associated ailments.   Dr. Podell sits on the advisory board of Spinal Aid Centers Of America and trains other health care providers in the science and art of non surgical spinal decompression in his Edgewater facility.  He continues to train and advance his clinic’s state of the art spinal rehabilitation programs and is known nationwide in his field.  He is additionally certified in neurodiagnostic evaluations, Spinal Manipulation Under Anasthesia and Disability Impairment rating.  In addition to NSSD, he had received advanced training in Spinal Chiropractic Biophysics, Active Therapeutic Techniques, MedX and Spine Force Spinal Rehabilitation, Extremity manipulation, orthopedics and neurology.

Introduction To Non-Surgical Decompression: Part I

Back (and neck) pain have reached epidemic-like proportions throughout the industrialized world with estimates of up to 70 million or so Americans suffering with this disorder.   That would be mathematically around 35% or so of the entire adult population…. a staggering statistic.

Cost for care has run into the billions with the cost of fusion surgeries often pointed at in regard to the rapid inflation in health care costs.  This doesn’t include the cost to industry and individual’s due to lost time at work due to severe spinal pain. The New England Journal Of Medicine notes that at least 50% of all spinal surgery is unnecessary.   Generally speaking, there is a rather low “success rate” in regard to surgery at high cost… and more importantly to the patient, a higher medical risk.

Most other typical therapies such as invasive injections, pain medication, physical therapy, routine osteopathic and chiropractic care have proven to be less than adequate sans short term pain relief.   This “Back Pain Dilemma” has proven be a treatment and diagnostic nightmare for most care providers…. and a confusing and frustrating issue for patients who don’t seem to know where to turn or whom to trust.

For many years,  I myself, who had been ‘in the trenches” dealing with these problems for the medical side of things, continued to struggle with the herniated disc and chronic back and neck pain sufferer often seeing patient’s end up in unsuccessful surgery or chained to a lifetime of pain pills,etc….

However, while scanning through some medical journals a number of years ago, I read an article by Dr. Alan Dyer, a medical physician and former health minister from Ontario, Canada, who had developed and pioneered a new approached to herniated disc treatment for severe and chronic spinal pain sufferers that was having excellent success… and get this, without surgery, drugs, needles and virtually painless.  It was called Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression and performed on technology called the Vax D…short for Vertebral Axial Decompression.

In a nutshell, Spinal Decompression can and does, create a negative pressure, or vacuum like state inside disc.  This centralizes or draws the herniation back towards normal at the same time drawing nutrients and oxygen into the disc to allow it to heal properly.

I began to research the technology and treatment protocols learning and training endlessly.  Armed with this knowledge, I set out to develop a clinic that could provide this now known as the Watefront Spine Institute.  It houses only state of the art technology including VaxD Genesis 2, DRX and the like.

While nothing is100% and we cannot accept every case that comes to see us, I have found the properly applied spinal decompression therapy to have a remarkably high success rate for things like disc herniation or bulge, degenerated discs, sciatica and even certain forms of stenosis.

If you’re suffering, have not been responsive to routine therapies or don’t want surgery or invasive injections and would like to get off the drugs, non surgical decompression may be appropriate for you.  I might suggest you investigate this “new” approach (it’s not really new but many are jus t becoming aware of it) before letting you’re problem get out control or possibly ending up in surgery.

Want to find out if you’re a candidate. Give us a call at  Waterfront Spine Institute for a no charge consultation  201-840-1980 or go to  www.waterfrontspinerehab.com for more info

Thank you so much for visiting my site. I encourage you to leave your questions and comments below. And for more information on Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression please fill out the form to the right or give us a call at 201-840-1980

About Dr. Podell, DC: Dr. Dave Podell, DC has been in active practice for over 25 years and has seen countless numbers of the most difficult and previously failed cases.   As the clinic director of the Watefront Spine Institute in Edgewater, New Jersey, just minutes from the GW Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel and midtown Manhattan, Dr. Podell, DC runs one of the Northeast’s most advanced and evolutionary multi-disciplinary clinics for the treatment of disc herniation and associated ailments.   Dr. Podell, DC sits on the advisory board of Spinal Aid Centers Of America and trains other health care providers in the science and art of non surgical spinal decompression in his Edgewater facility.  He continues to train and advance his clinic’s state of the art spinal rehabilitation programs and is known nationwide in his field.  He is additionally certified in neurodiagnostic evaluations, Spinal Manipulation Under Anasthesia and Disability Impairment rating.  In addition to NSSD, he had received advanced training in Spinal Chiropractic Biophysics, Active Therapeutic Techniques, MedX and Spine Force Spinal Rehabilitation, Extremity manipulation, orthopedics and neurology.