What is Chiropractic Spinal or Disc Decompression?

Hello, my name is Dr. Steve Wander and I'm a chiropractor in Rockville, Maryland. We also have an office in Gaithersburg and you're probably wondering what this doughnut is. This doughnut is gonna explain to you a little bit about spinal decompression. Now, spinal disc decompression focuses on the disc and the disc, is in between the bones. If you'll look at this picture you'll see an orange spongy type of material in between 2 bones. That's the disc.

Now when the disc gets compressed, okay, it creates a positive energy. And when you create a positive energy, what'll happen, is that the disc can be herniated. So if you'll look really close, you'll see this disc is bulging out to the side. In effect, it touches the nerves and the person will have pain that could be in their neck, in their lower back, whatever the case may be.

According to research, some of the spinal problems like a herniated disc arise due to exhibition of poor posture. Nowadays, most people guide an extremely sedentary way of life. While they sit and work, these people didn't notice that they are always having that forward head posture. This kind of posture contributes to gradual disc damage and herniated disc. The pressure on the discs from poor posture is uneven, causing uneven wear on the discs. When the natural curve of the lower back is increased (sway back) or decreased (flattened back) the discs are more compressed. This increases the risk of herniated disc.

In this video, let me show you a little demonstration of what will happen with positive pressure on the disc. This is what happens to the doughnut. You see, it spills out to the side. What the spinal decompression does is, it creates a negative energy by pulling and lengthening, on that disc, and creating the negative pressure that sucks the disc back in. And that's what a chiropractic spinal decompression process does whether it be lumbar, or low back spine or cervical or neck spine decompression.

And this is done without injections, without drugs, without surgery and also puts oxygen and moisture back into the disc. Along with a rehab program, strengthening the muscles around the disc as well as stretching the muscles on that disc can prevent the pain and devastating effects of herniated or a damaged disc due to degenerative disc disease.