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A 24-year-old member asked:

Is spinal decompression therapy effective in relieving back pain?

2 doctor answers4 doctors weighed in
Dr. Douglas Chang
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 23 years experience
Open: Surgical inteventions such as "decompression" for nonspecific low back pain have about a 60% chance of success. Other allied health professionals who advertise "decompression" have anecdotal evidence of success, without much strong clinical evidence to support the therapy. (in the absence of such evidence for efficacy, insurance companies will not pay for such treatments).
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
Dr. Alexandre De Moura
Orthopedic Spine Surgery 33 years experience
Maybe: Try it. If your symptoms get better continue treatment. If it makes you worse than discontinue treatment.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.

Similar questions

A 35-year-old member asked:

Is spinal decompression therapy effective to relieve back pain?

1 doctor answer4 doctors weighed in
Dr. Mark Cantieri
Pain Management 42 years experience
Yes: It can be very helpful for some people although it can be difficult to determine who the best candidates are. It is safe so a trial of it can be done to see if it helps.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 44-year-old member asked:

How can spinal decompression help with back pain?

2 doctor answers2 doctors weighed in
Dr. Ki-Hon Lin
Orthopedic Surgery 27 years experience
Traction: By spinal decompression i will assume that you mean traction, such as using a vax-d or similar machine. The concept of traction is to restore lost disc height, which can result in improved spinal canal diameter and reduced nerve pinching. The problem with traction is that it is often temporary - in other words, once out of traction, the spine gradually settles back to its original state.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
Last updated Sep 11, 2017
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