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All types of acute injuries are treated at the
clinic. Whiplash (because of rapid deceleration or acceleration) to
the neck and mid-to lower back region is the most common injury
seen. Many patients have been injured as the result of sports,
occupational incidents or automobile accidents. Bending, lifting,
twisting, even walking, become difficult painful movements. In the
United States, back symptoms are the most common cause of disability
for people under age 45.
Back symptoms are among the 10 leading causes for
patient visits to emergency rooms, hospital outpatient departments
and physician's offices. The symptoms of these injuries often cause
patients to inappropriately use emergency rooms as a course of
ongoing post-injury care, according to Dr. Crespo, a trauma medicine
veteran.
Dr. Crespo saw this firsthand during more than 13
years of emergency and trauma medicine practice in the Bay area, as
emergency medicine director at Memorial and Town & Country
hospitals. He says it was that observation, coupled with his
interest in injury trauma and his love of neurology and orthopedics,
that led him to diversify his practice. He began his clinical
practice for comprehensive injury care and rehabilitation in 1996.
Pain management was a logical extension.
Why Spinal
Decompression Works
NASA was the first to investigate space travel's effects
on spinal decompression in intervertebral discs. It found that during
the weightless portion of the mission, astronauts were relieved of
low back pain. It also found disc height actually increased during a
mission. This valuable information led to the development of
advanced technology to reproduce the effects on earth.
Decompressing the lumbar discs relieves pressure
on the spinal nerves often caused by disc herniatinos,
sp
herniations degenerative
disease, sciatica or posterior facet syndrome. The process using the DRX 9000™ equipment has been proven to relieve pain by enlarging
disc space, reducing herniations, strengthening outer ligaments to
help move herniated areas back into place and reversing high
intra-disc pressures through application of negative pressure.
During spinal decompression, an automatic
shoulder support system stabilizes the patient's upper body, while
the DRX 9000™ automatically adjusts to the proper angle of
distraction. An air bladder system acts as a fulcrum to the angle of
the pull. This allows specific targeting of discs.
This therapy has been used successfully on
patients of all ages. Interestingly, Dr. Crespo notes patients with
spinal stenosis have even reported improvements in erectile
dysfunction.
Unique
Treatment Combination for Back Pain
One of the newer options for discogenic pain treatment is
a combination of non-surgical spinal decompression followed by core
muscle stabilization and strengthening.
As published in the American Journal of Pain
Management, a study that compared decompression to traditional
traction for lumbosacral spine showed the decompression methods
provides good to excellent relief for 86 percent of patients with
ruptured intervertebral discs and 75 percent of patients with facet
arthosis, according to equipment manufacturer Axiom Worldwide of
Tampa.
Patients using protocols that Dr. Crespo has
developed have shown success rates of 90 to 96 percent.
The core-strengthening and stabilization
component of the therapy is a key to long-term success, Dr. Crespo
says. Patients with injuries need this additional bridge of support
as they recover.
"This is where we see the best results for
patients. Combining the core strengthening exercises on the MedX
equipment with the decompression drastically decreases the chance of
reinjury. We've yet to retreat a patient beyond the first series,"
he says.
Patients completing the spinal decompression
therapy experienced improvement, ranging from being completely
pain-free to experiencing a substantial relief from pain, numbness
or tingling.
Crespo & Associates, P.A., is the nation's second
medical facility to offer this highly effective, noninvasive
combination of treatment, coupling the spinal decompression with
core strengthening exercises. |
