A mind once stretched never retracts back to the same, but is this true with neck or back computerized traction?
Yes, it is true once a person expands their mind they never are the same. Their perception of the world is changed forever. When it comes to the spine and specifically the disc and whether once a spine is stretched does it help forever… well that is what this conversation is about.
I hear it every day, “ Doc, I have a bulging or herniated disc or should I get an MRI to see if I have one?”. This is a loaded question and especially when you look at all the different uses of these words so loosely and even among doctors to describe MRI findings. When you throw in the fact that even if you have a disc finding, it doesn’t mean that it is what is causing your pain, it gets really kind of confusing for people. I always joke that the MRI isn’t going to fix your problem. The truth is that may help though in getting a clear picture of possible causes and to rule out certain concerns.
The one thing I find 100% true though is that no one ever talks about why the disc became to the state of bulging or herniated or prolapsed or “slipped” to begin with. After years of studying and witnessing disc pathology, the most common weak link that I almost always see on anyone’s MRI with any of these findings is dehydration of the disc and I believe is what lead to the vulnerability to get in the state that it is. What is crazy is that I have ever heard any advice given by their doctor on how to keep discs hydrated and strong, but it is no surprise since most people preoccupied with getting or giving a word of diagnosis to describe what is present.
What I have found is when you look at the disc make up and its strength when fully hydrated it is almost impossible to get a bulging disc. Think about when someone falls out of a building and compresses their spine they break they vertebrae with compression fractures and you don’t really hear much about disc problems right then. It is years later after the injury shut down the pumping mechanism to the disc and dehydration sets in one day they twist, get a horrible pain, and get diagnosed with a herniated disc.
All of this sets the stage describing the insanity going on out there when it comes to disc problems. The truth is, the secret is in keeping your disc hydrated and partially, but not much has to do with drinking water or not.
One of the reasons I use decompression (computerized long-axis intermittent traction) is to get the pumping mechanism working again for the patient to get nutrition and water to their disc for nourishment and strength. The second great benefit is that many people that have horrible pains, numbness, weakness sometimes for weeks/months/years get relief as well as the nourishing their discs.
This can have a permanent effect for that person, so yes a disc/spine once stretched with this technology may never retract back to its once vulnerable state.
