Beyond Decompression-SRT

The Pettibon System of Spinal Rejuvenation Therapy and Decompression
By Dr. David Melendez

*(New Research-see below)*

Studies show that disc disease is the most common cause of back pain and costs Americans over $65 Billion annually.  Roughly 700,000 Americans receive spinal surgery every year and the costs begin around $25,000.00 and can range to over $100,000.00 for surgically implanted rods or other fusion devices.  Insurance companies may not cover all of the expense, so patients end up paying a large chunk for procedures that can give them very little hope for a normal life in the future.  A recent 2006 study from the Journal Spine found that the use of implanted hardware in spinal fusion surgeries for lower back pain does not improve the results and carries a higher risk of complications. Two years after surgery, about 60% of patients in each group remained disabled.  Patients with implants, however, had twice the risk of post-surgical complications.  Dr. Gary M. Franklin, medical director of the Washington Department of Labor and Industry, which funded the study, said, “it was clear that the devices did not benefit patients.” He added that “the high rate of long term disability in all the patients, regardless of whether hardware was used or not, was of little benefit.  This procedure doesn’t do much to help people!”
When surgery fails to help it is then diagnosed as Failed Back Surgery Syndrome or F.B.S.S., an actual diagnosis.

Today advances in spinal traction have brought promising results for patients with disc herniations and degenerative disc diseases.  Non-surgical disc decompression is one such treatment, being advertised increasingly, that has brought initial relief for many, from debilitating back pain. However decompression/traction can only bring temporary results since gravity will re-compress the structurally weakened disc and injured spinal areas over time.  Subluxation, abnormal spinal angles, and loss of the normal lordotic curves will gradually and continually collapse under gravity once again.  I have received patients or have had patients return who have spent thousands of dollars for decompression therapy only to have their problem and pain return within three to six months.  I began to call this Failed Back Decompression Syndrome or F.B.D.S.!  

It is very important to know that muscles support and maintain spinal curves. Ninety percent of disc problems are caused by postural breakdown of the normal lordotic curves of the cervical and lumbar spine.  Therefore, without postural curve correction with muscle rehabilitation, the effects of decompression/traction will be lost over time and once again, the degenerative process will advance. To permanently correct the lumbar spine, at least 60% correction of the normal lordotic curve of the cervical spine must be achieved.  This is why, for many acute lumbar disc cases, decompression of the lumbar disc is performed only during the acute pain episode.  Once pain reduction occurs, the patient is then decompressed from the cervical spine down, in order to correct and restore the cervical curve, the original cause.  In other words, you must fix the neck with rehab and curve correction, in order to stabilize and enhance the benefits of spinal decompression of the lumbar spine!

The Pettibon Spinal Rejuvenation Therapy (SRT) Table utilizes Whole Body Vibration (WBV) for several key benefits.  With higher contractility of the muscles with WBV, the muscles will fatigue 50% faster allowing spasm and splinted muscles to relax, enabling quicker decompression and pain relief.  This essentially reduces the decompression time from the standard 30 minutes of traditional methods, to 15 minutes or less with WBV.   Whole Body Vibration was developed over 40 years ago in the Soviet Union to train their Olympic athletes and rehabilitate cosmonauts returning from space that suffered muscle atrophy and loss of bone. Weight bearing exercises done with  Whole Body Vibration increasses muscle strength and bone density over static exercise. WBV introduces a significant additional stimulus to the nerve system in order to challenge the postural reflexes leading to improvements in balance and postural awareness on a subconscious level.  With the right vibratory frequency, WBV has been shown to increase endocrine activity.  Growth hormone increased by 361%, testosterone increased by 7%, cortisol, the fat producing stress hormone, decreased by 32%, blood flow increased by 100%, and back pain reduced by 66%.  In addition, oxygen is utilized during SRT (decompression) to help our patients heal faster with the best results.  Your brain and nervous system need two things to survive: fuel and activation.  Fuel comes in the form of glucose and oxygen.  You get glucose from the food you eat but as you age your ability to utilize oxygen decreases.  Giving you oxygen during your SRT (decompression) will help you get the best results in the quickest time possible.

Traditional and conventional rehab, which involves performing resistance exercises through a range of motion (i.e.weights, machines, Therabands), works only the fast twitch muscles.  The fast twitch muscles will make you strong, but they will not change the structure or remove the underlying cause of the disc problem.  They will help you carry your groceries better, while your spinal structure continues to degenerate and your body becomes sick.  The spinal muscles that support the spinal curves and determine your posture and health are slow-twitch postural muscles. These muscles require isometric exercise to strengthen and restore postural health. Once the spine is sufficiently decompressed, head, shoulder, and hip weighting are essential parts of the corrective isometric exercise program designed to predictably restore optimal spinal and postural alignment, permanently!

The Pettibon System of spinal correction in conjunction with the Pettibon Spinal Rejuvenation Therapy (SRT), utilizing Whole Body Vibration and decompression, is one of the only systems proven, with evidence based research, to achieve predictable disc re-hydration, structural curve correction, with neurological and physiological restoration of health and function, that sticks.

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“The pain was so excruciating it knocked me off my chair…”

Oh No Mr. Bill!

Picture a guy who over the last several years has had lower back pain and an occasional flare up lasting three to four weeks, but had not had a flare up in over 18 months.  This was me last October.  I felt I was in good and physically in the kind of shape you would expect from, someone who worked out regularly. But I was really kidding myself.  About six months prior, I moved to a location not conveniently close to my gym, I had replaced my vigorous workouts with irregular ones at home consisting of measly stretches and a few crunches.  Coincidentally, at that time I had decided that I needed to do several projects around the house all of which required excessive bending over and kneeling down.  The projects around the house all of which had been postponed, but I was forcing myself into a short timeline in order to get them done before I went away for a weekend church retreat.  About half way through the two-week project cycle my back was starting to give me signals that I needed to lay off for a few days, but I wouldn’t hear of it.  The projects had to be done before I could feel right about leaving for a relaxing weekend to hear the word of God.  Finally, the day came when the projects were complete and I was away for the weekend, but my lower back was not happy.

During the first session of the retreat Friday night my back was sore, but I was confident that sitting down and relaxing would be good for it and in no time it would be feeling better again.  However, by the end of the first session that night it was just as sore if not more so than when it began.  Consequently, I went to bed to give it a good rest. The next morning I was felling pretty good and I thought I was over the hump, but then it happened.  I sat down in a chair during the first session of the morning and it felt like someone had come up behind me and hit me with a baseball bat in my lower back.  The pain was so excruciating it knocked me off the chair and it took all I had to stand up using the back of the chair in front of me for support. Luckily, some of the men around me carried me back to my room where I collapsed in bed for the remainder of the weekend.  I was so miserable I could not even turn myself over without intense shooting pain.  After the weekend was over a nice guy drove me home and he and another guy carried me into the house where…

“…I laid in bed for nearly a month!”

When I felt strong enough to stand on my own for brief periods I sought the advice of an orthopedic surgeon.  After looking at my MRI and examining me he concluded that I had a condition known as Internal Disc Derangement (IDD), an internal tear of one of my discs. His recommendation was to have surgery right away, which would entail disc removal because in his words “…there was no other option”.  Luckily there was a backlog for surgery I could not get in for about a month.  In the mean time I was encouraged to seek a second opinion and praised the Lord I followed that advice.  Of course it took another month before I could see the second opinion doctor.  




In the mean time the Lord led me to Gold Coast Chiropractic (GCC) by a recommendation from my wife who had seen Dr. Melendez the year before for care.  During that month while waiting for my second opinion, Dr. Melendez and his staff of highly trained experts worked me over three times a week with spinal decompression and rejuvenation therapy (SRT), cervical traction, wobble chair, stretching, body weighting rehab, adjustments, and not to mention introducing me to the “good posture for a healthy lifestyle” mindset.  Believe it or not in only a month’s time I was standing, for the most part, pain free, in front of the second orthopedic surgeon reviewing my new set of x-ray and MRI’s.  Even though I could not bend over and tie my shoes yet, in his conclusion he said “…I don’t see anything I would recommend surgery for!”  Those words were like music to my ears.  Praise the Lord; I had sought the help of Dr. Melendez.  I don’t believe the second orthopedic surgeon would have come to the same conclusion had I not been standing in front of him looking and feeling pretty good and I know I wouldn’t have been had I not received the help of Dr. Melendez.  

“All I can say is WOW!”

It is now three months after that second opinion and I’m feeling no pain and as of two weeks ago I was able to bend over and tie my shoes!  Tonight Dr. Melendez reviewed with me the before and after x-rays.  All I can say is WOW!  He has not only helped me feel better and improved my mobility he has partially reversed the aging process of my spine.  My spine is now much straighter, left and right, than it used to be and more curved where it needs to be.  I am living proof that if you put the spine back in order your physical health will improve.  Over all, I highly recommend GCC and Melendez team to anyone suffering with back pain and decreased physical quality of life.  Thanks Dr. Melendez for helping me see and experience a healthier and more productive life.  May God bless you and your staff.

Sincerely,  

William L. George, Colonel USAF (Ret.)

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"No more pinched nerve feeling and my pains are gone!"

I first came to see Dr Melendez in November of 2008 with a chronic pinched nerve feeling in my neck and down into my shoulder. I decided to see if he could help since my office is in the same building upstairs. I had tried to get help before from other chiropractors, over the past 5 years, but received only temporary relief that did not last.

Dr. David took x-rays of my spine and discovered that several vertebrae and disc in my neck were compressed, subluxated and degenerating from an old injury. I also had lost the normal curve and my head was forward causing my disc to wear out fast.

Dr. David’s system of chiropractic, Spinal Rejuvenation Therapy-decompression, and rehabilitation, has helped reverse this once chronic problem. No more pinched nerve feeling and my pains are gone!

I’m feeling better overall because I don’t have a nagging pain to think about anymore. As an Off-Road Racer, I’m starting the new season full speed ahead with victory as the goal.

Thank you,

Brent Fouch

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*New Research on the Pettibon System of Spinal Rejuvenation & Decompression:

Radiographic disc height increases after a trial of multimodal spine rehabilitation and vibration traction:  a retrospective case series
Ian Horseman DC, Mark Morningstar DC, Journal of Chiropractic Medicine (2008) 7, 140-145

This initial study was done to see if the SRT system of spinal decompression, which uses whole body vibration and includes the use of the wobble chair, cervical repetitive traction, chiropractic adjustments, and body weighting rehabilitation, could improve disc height.  The loss of spinal disc height is a common part of degenerative disc disease.

Key Points:
•    Patients were required to fit 2 of the following criteria: (1)-low back pain, (2)-numbness/tingling in one or both legs, (3)-pain level 8 out of 10 on pain scale, (4)-sciatica, (5)-disc herniation diagnosed on MRI.
•    Each patient was evaluated using a numeric pain scale, Spirometer measuring lung capacity, and radiographic disc height and lumbar curve measurements.
•    Six patients followed a specific treatment protocol consisting of 5 minutes of warm-up wobble chair stretches, 4 minutes of cervical repetitive traction, SRT with vibration, head weighting, chiropractic adjustment, and ice.  
•    Patients were placed on the SRT table with whole body vibration with continuous traction. Vibration causes rapid muscle fatigue, which overcomes muscle spasm and guarding, promoting spinal lengthening.
•    The SRT table is different then other spinal decompression tables in that there is a constant traction force applied increasing spinal lengthening.  
•    After the SRT with vibration, wobble chair stretches, head weighting and adjustment were performed.  
•    Each patient was given a Pettibon home rehab set to be used at home daily.  
•    The average age of all 6 of the patients was 40 years old with an average weight of 155 pounds.

•    Results:  All 6 patients were able to increase functional status-they increased in overall height; they improved in lung function; they reported lower numeric pain scores; they improved in disc height in 3 of 5 lumbar discs on plain film radiographs.

Readily and repetitively increasing disc height is unheard of in medicine until now.  Our unique system of SRT decompression, adjustment and rehabilitation is proving to be a life changer and lifesaver for many with disc degeneration.  Check out our testimonials on www.goldcoastchiro.com.  Spread the word!

Brought to you by Dr. Melendez @ Gold Coast Chiropractic Center 120 Birmingham suite 100 Cardiff by the Sea, CA 92007 760-944-0563 www.goldcoastchiro.com