Surgery. Medication. Physical therapy. If these don’t seem like viable options to relieve lower back pain, an alternative and more attractive option has recently become available at the Texas Spine Clinic in the form of the DRX9000 — a top-of-the-line spinal decompression machine that aims to treat serious chronic lower back pain due to sciatica, herniated and/or bulging discs, degenerative disc disease, a relapse or failure following surgery, or spinal stenosis.

In the past, patients suffering from this pain would have typically been given medications, been advised to refrain from physical activities, been referred to physical therapy, or if no progress was being made, been sent to spinal surgery. But now, the latest cutting-edge technology allows for this non-surgical, non-invasive treatment to effectively treat lower back pain and sciatica by applying a distraction force to relieve nerve compression often associated with low back pain and sciatica. This technology, coined spinal decompression, not only significantly reduces back pain in many patients but also enables the majority of patients to return to more active lifestyles.

Dr. Kevin Barton at the Texas Spine Clinic prides his use of the DRX9000 to perform this spinal decompression treatment.

“With advances in technology, science is allowing us to better study the natural design and true physiological function of the body,” Dr. Barton says. “This is the most effective, conservative treatment option to treat most degenerative disc disease and herniated disc cases.”

Most patients are extremely comfortable during the procedure and there are no medical risks to those patients who qualify. While most patients do not experience any side effects, there have been some mild cases of muscle spasm for a short period of time.

“Many of our patients report less pain with good to excellent results following treatment, and that’s powerful, not to mention comforting,” Dr. Barton says.

Although 95 percent of patients undergoing the procedure see improvement in two to three weeks, the average length of treatments lasts between five and seven weeks. In fact, patients undergo treatment for 30-45 minutes daily for the first two weeks, three times a week for the following two weeks, followed by two times a week for the last two weeks.

Eliot Garza, publisher of NSIDE Magazine, has a longstanding history of lower back pain due to a car accident roughly 10 years ago. Prior to the accident, Garza was an avid runner, but about four years after he began experiencing lower back pain due to two slightly bulging discs caused by the accident, ultimately preventing Garza’s ability to run.

Since then, Garza has visited several chiropractors in hopes of restoring his ability to be an active runner once again, but unfortunately only temporary relief has been elicited from these visits. In an effort to finally rid himself of his lower back pain, Garza went to visit Dr. Barton to try the Spinal Compression treatment. After several treatments, Garza was thoroughly impressed by the results.

“Decompression techniques have been around for years, but the DRX 9000 targets exactly where the problem may be,” Garza says. “With temporary visits to the DRX 9000 and continuously working out my core region, I’ll be able to run in no time.”