Spinal Decompression Therapy
back pain clinic london offers a specialist treatment for degenerative back and neck conditions
At Spine Plus we offer a specific mechanical treatment modality for treating pain and discomfort associated with a range of intervertebral disc problems including herniated disc, bulging disc, cervical spondylosis, lumbar spondylosis, spinal degeneration, wear and tear, facet joint syndrome, sciatica, radiculopathy, trapped nerves, general low back pain, chronic low back pain, chronic neck pain and “non-specific” back pain.
The name of this treatment is “Intermittent Sustained Spinal Traction” (ISST). ISST can be used on the neck (cervical spine) as well as the low back (lumbar spine) and is based on traction whereby a harness is used to apply precise mechanical pressure that slowly stretches the vertebral segments apart thus offloading and decompressing the intervertebral discs. Up until a couple of decades ago traction was a common form of treatment for worn and slipped discs. Then with the development of new surgical procedures for the spine, traction was used less often. However the long term effectiveness of some of these surgical procedure has recently been called into question and traction therapy is coming back into fashion. ISST is an ideal form of non-invasive treatment for those who have been told their condition is not severe enough to warrant surgery but who have tried others types of physical / manual therapy and had poor results.
Whilst not exactly the same, the form of ISST that we use is similar to Intervertebral Differential Dynamics (IDD) therapy as performed by the Accu-SINA machine which has gained particularly notoriety in the USA. Spinal traction of old used to involve the patient being strapped onto the traction equipment and then being left in state of constant static stretch for up to 30 minutes. ISST / IDD differs to static traction in that the stretch is applied intermittently, the force is applied for 30 – 60 seconds then released for 15 to 30 seconds, the cycle is repeated in this way for 6 to 20 repetitions. This style of intermittent traction is thought to be superior to static traction in that it allows more fluid and therefore nutrients to be drawn into the disc. Sustained traction can lead to prolonged stretching of surrounding muscles and ligaments, which in turn can lead to temporary pain and muscle spasm. Intermittant sustained traction is less likely to lead to these adverse reactions.
Symptoms that can be helped with ISST will normally show signs of improvement within 3 sessions, optimum results will often come from a course of up to 20 sessions and it can sometimes be necessary to use infrequent top up sessions to maintain progress.
Prior to receiving ISST we require all clients to undergo a full assessment with one of our consultant osteopaths to determine their suitabilty to the treatment.
