Disc Herniation and Age-Related Degenetation

As we get older, it’s normal for the spongy discs in our spines to degenerate somewhat. It’s just part of the aging process. However, it is not normal for this degenerative cycle to cause pain, and for certain individuals, that’s exactly what happens. Commonly referred to as Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD for short), the shrinking disc can become a chronic source of pain, occasionally leading to issues with mobility and performing normal activities. Unfortunately, there are other causes of disc degeneration that are not related to age; a herniated disc, bone spurs, and osteoarthritis are all precursors to Degenerative Disc Disease and the pain that can come with it. At our office, Living Well Medical in NYC, we help patients who are suffering with disc problems and pain like DDD without surgery.


Among the more common precipitators of premature disc degeneration is a herniated disc. Anyone who has ever suffered from a herniated disc can tell you about the pain, the restrictions it can place on the way you live your life, the frustration. The typical reason that a herniated disc is so painful is nerve compression. In the lower back, the nucleus (the soft center of an intervertebral disc) of a herniated disc has broken through the annulus (the protective outer layer of a spinal disc) and presses up against the sciatic nerve roots leading to inflammation and irritation. In more serious cases, numbness, tingling and muscle weakness may also be experienced. We regularly treat herniated disc at Living Well Medical in NYC, but there are occasionally long-term ramifications like the early onset of disc degeneration as mentioned above. For patients suffering from herniated disc or disc degeneration, we have developed a comprehensive treatment protocol that combines several potent, non-surgical options to ease pain and suffering without surgery.

One of the core components of treatment for most Degenerative Disc Disease sufferers is non-surgical spinal decompression with the DRX 9000. This form of back pain treatment focuses on correcting spinal imbalances that result from disc malfunctions like DDD, herniated discs, bulging discs and disc-related spinal stenosis. During a treatment session, patients lie down on a table with a special harness around the waist. The harness connects them to a traction element that can be angled to target different areas of the spine, and a computer-guided program gentle applies a therapeutic stretch to the spine, elongating it and increasing the space between the vertebrae. This helps the disc bring in badly needed fluids and nutrients to repair itself. In addition, if herniation is occurring, the stretches can also help pull the nucleus of a herniated disc back inside the fibrous tissue of the annulus, potentially reducing or even eliminating the nerve compression that often causes pain.

To get the best possible results for our patients, physical therapy, chiropractic, cold laser therapy, and postural corrections might also be part of a treatment program involving spinal decompression. Only after a complete examination can our physicians establish whether or not spinal decompression with the DRX 9000 is right for you. As the NYC chiropractor who has been using the DRX 9000 the longest in the city, Living Well Medical’s Dr. Steven Shoshany can help you make the right decision for treatment.

Using fully digital x-ray and other cutting edge diagnostics right in our office like Nerve Conduction Velocity studies and EMG (electromyography), we have all the tools to find the source of your pain and effectively treat it. Call Living Well Medical in NYC today to find out more at 212-645-8151.

Cervical Pain in NYC: What Makes my Neck Hurt?

Next to back pain, neck pain is one of the principle reasons that people miss work in the United States, but of course, there isn’t just one hard and fast reason for neck pain. Each person’s pain will be different based on factors like lifestyle choices, previous injuries and genetic predispositions; however, one thing all types of neck pain have in common is their overwhelming ability to shut down activity, particularly for cases that are severe or chronic.

At our practice, Living Well Medical in NYC, we regularly treat patients with cervical pain (cervical refers to the uppermost portion of the spine and correlates to the neck in vertebrate mammals such as humans), taking a comprehensive approach that combines a variety of non-surgical techniques for pain relief. Below, you will find a few of many causes of neck pain, each of which will contain possibilities for treatment we make available to our patients.

Degenerative Disc Disease

As we age, the spongy material in between the vertebrae can degrade, reducing its ability to act as a shock absorber. The weakening of the outer wall of the disc, the annulus fibrosus, can also lead to bulging or herniation. Degenerative disc disease is not a painful problem for most people as it is a normal part of aging, but can lead to significant impairment in some circumstances. Symptoms of this condition are numerous and can include neck/back pain, tingling, and weakness, among others.

At Living Well Medical in NYC, we bring together a number of non-surgical treatment options for patients suffering with degenerative disc disease. Often that will include non-surgical spinal decompression with the DRX9000, cold laser therapy (which can help encourage faster healing), physical therapy and gentle chiropractic treatments.

Herniated Disc

Spinal discs that develop a tear in the fibrous tissue that surrounds the gel-like center sometimes spill some of their contents out, causing pressure on the sciatic nerve. This can occur in any of the spinal discs, but the cervical (neck) and lumbar (lower back) discs are particularly susceptible. Herniated discs are not always painful, but compression of the nerve roots in the spine associated with disc herniation can be debilitating, causing severe lower back pain, leg pain, and muscle weakness.

For many of our patients, the DRX9000 non-surgical spinal decompression system has proven to be an effective alternative to the surgeries that are often prescribed by traditional medical doctors. Spinal decompression with the DRX9000 is a gentle stretching of the spine that is guided by a computer system. By adjust the angle of the stretch and the force, important nutrients can reach the discs, promoting healing and relieving pain.

Pinched Nerve

A pinched nerve is a broader term for any nerve impingement or irritation as a result of compression. A pinched nerve can be the result of a herniated disc, a bulging disc, facet joint syndrome, or a muscular issue like piriformis syndrome, to name a few. Pain from pinched nerves is often acute, sometimes described as a stabbing pain or a burning sensation. Weakness, numbness and tingling often accompany a pinched nerve. A pinched nerve in the neck can produce an effect called ‘referred pain,’ meaning a patient is experiencing pain in a part of the body that is adjacent to or distant from the actual site of injury. That’s one of the reasons that an extensive evaluation is necessary to pinpoint the actual site of the injury.

Treatment for a pinched nerve will depend on the specific type, but may include elements of non-surgical spinal decompression with the DRX9000, manual therapy, physical therapy, cryotherapy and cold laser treatment.

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Neck pain can be a serious problem without effective treatment. At Living Well Medical in NYC, we can help stop the pain without surgery. If cervical pain has taken control of your life, give us a call at 212-645-8151 to make an appointment.

Repairing a Herniated Disc without Surgery in NYC

If you are suffering with severe back pain and have been diagnosed with a herniated disc (sometimes called a prolapsed disc), you may be considering surgery as a solution. However, at our practice, Living Well Medical in NYC, we take an integrative approach that can stop pain without the need for back/spine surgery. Using chiropractic care and non-surgical spinal decompression with the DRX9000, pain from conditions like pinched nerves and herniated discs can feel like themselves again.

In many cases, when no other forms of treatment have been effective, discs in the lower back (lumbar discs) or neck (cervical discs) respond favorably to chiropractic, non-surgical spinal decompression or a combination of both. So many of the people we see have been everywhere, tried everything and found little or no relief. They have tried pain medication regimens, muscle relaxants, even spinal injections through pain management and are still in agony. They have exhausted the options that conventional medicine has presented them. But, of course, back surgery for a herniated disc can be a terrifying prospect, so they come to our NYC office in search of an alternative.

Chiropractic adjustment seeks to root out spinal misalignments that can be the cause of pain. A herniated disc will in many cases respond to manual therapy like chiropractic, but it’s true that a small percentage will not find relief. For these patients a combination of non-surgical spinal decompression and adjustment can help ease the pain in their neck or lower back.

Non-surgical spinal decompression with the DRX9000 is a huge technological advancement in the field of treatment of conditions like herniated or bulging disc, pinched nerves, and degenerative disc disease without having to go under the knife. This computer-guided machine puts patients in a harness that helps direct a precise amount of force at the specific intervertebral disc that has bulged, herniated or otherwise failed in its function. Over the course of a treatment, the machine goes through a stretching phase followed by a period of semi-relaxation. The stretching helps increase the space between the vertebrae, stretch ligaments, and elongate the spine. In addition, the DRX9000 monitors biofeedback to determine if muscle guarding is occurring so that it can reduce the amount of stretching.

Over the course of a typical spinal decompression treatment cycle, these stretches help to create negative pressure inside of a disc which can pull herniated or bulging disc material back into its proper position, relieving nerve compression and pain in the process.

It’s true that non-surgical spinal decompression with the DRX9000 is not a panacea for back pain. There are a number of other factors to be addressed like lifestyle choices, exercise training and overall wellness. However, it’s also true that non-surgical spinal decompression with the DRX9000 gives patients hope for back and neck pain relief without surgery.

For patients still in pain because of a herniated or bulging disc, Living Well Medical in NYC wants to help you. Call us today at 212-645-8151 or visit our website at Living Well Medical.

Spinal Decompression Or Back Surgery, Which Is A Better Option? Considering a back surgery in NYC?

Spinal Decompression Or Back Surgery, Which Is A Better Option?

Comments by NYC Chiropractor Dr.Steven Shoshany D.C.,C.C.E.P. at the end of the article www.drshoshany.com

Credits| Author: Dr. Ronald Fielden with Dr. George Best
by Dr. Michael Golab with Dr. George Best

For people with severe disc-related back pain and sciatica, long-term relief can be hard to come by and the treatment options often come down to spinal decompression or back surgery. Each treatment option has its pros and cons, but in the end, the best option will depend on a variety of factors that are unique to each case.

There are some misconceptions about both spinal decompression and surgery that can lead to confusion when attempting to determine the best treatment option, especially when pain or medication may be disrupting the ability to think clearly. The following information will help to dispel some of the misconceptions regarding these forms of treatment and will assist pain sufferers in selecting which option is best for their circumstances.

Although spinal decompression is a kind of traction, the effects of spinal decompression vary considerably from those of regular traction. True spinal decompression systems utilize computer controlled motors that can “fool” the muscles along the spine into staying relaxed during the treatment session. This allows for a suction effect inside the spinal disc being treated, which pulls bulging disc material back into the disc and also pulls in fluid and nutrients that help the disc to recover and heal. Since ordinary traction machines must contend with muscular resistance, their effects on the discs are much less and traction typically does not provide long-term improvements in disc health, nor lasting elimination of pain.

Although spinal decompression is extremely effective in the vast majority of disc-pain cases, it does not work in every case, and their are situations in which it cannot be safely applied. From my experience in my San Antonio Spinal Decompression office, I have found that decompression is not usually effective in cases of large disc extrusions (when large amounts of the inner gel of the disc breach the disc wall). In addition, spinal decompression cannot be safely used when there is substantial ligamentous instability in the spine because the stretching effect of the decompression would tend to make such instability worse. In cases where spinal decompression is not appropriate, surgery is indicated as really the only option for getting long term relief for the patient.

Although it may be the best option in a small number of disc-pain cases, back surgery is far from being an ideal solution. Patients sometimes have the impression that a back surgery will completely solve their back pain once and for all, but this is rarely the case. In fact, one of the leading predictors that someone will eventually need back surgery in the future is having had back surgery in the past. Although aggressive surgical techniques that involve removing a problematic disc will guarantee that a patient will not have any trouble with that particular disc again, these surgeries create other problems that over time can make things even worse than the original problem.

Post-surgical scar tissue and increased wear and tear on adjacent discs can conspire to create new areas of spinal cord and/or spinal nerve compression months or years after spinal surgery. Due to the high probability of these post-surgical complications, it is my opinion that surgery should always be considered a last option when all other treatments have either failed or cannot be used due to existing contraindications.

I have always told patients that surgery should be a last resort when all non-surgical methods have failed.
To learn more about spinal decompression in NYC visit www.drshoshany.com or
www.livingwellnewyork.com

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Back pain treatment call (212) 645-8151 for an immediate appointment.
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Pain in the lower back is a symptom that can take many forms. It is not a disease, although very rarely lower back pain may be due to a disease. Most of the time, low back pain appears suddenly, and often it is agonizing. But it may also be experienced as a low-key pain. This can be a dull or nagging pain.

Lower back pain is pain affecting the lower part of the back. It is described as:

Lower back pain is acute if it has lasted less than 6 weeks.
Lower back pain is sub-acute if it has lasted 6-12 weeks.
Lower back pain is chronic if it has lasted more than 12 weeks.



Lower back pain is a pain or ache somewhere between the bottom of the ribs, at the back, and the top of the legs. The pain often begins suddenly, and may follow an obvious strain or injury.
Back Pain NYC, Back pain treatment nyc,herniated disc treatment NYC
The lower back pain may travel to or be felt in other parts of your body. It often goes into the buttocks, but may go further down the leg and even into the foot.

The back pain may be worse on bending and is often worse sitting, especially in an easy chair. Sometimes turning over in bed and sitting up is painful. Coughing or sneezing can often make the pain much worse. The muscles of the back may go into painful spasm.

Back pain may be combined with pain into the leg, traveling down below the knee, this is otherwise known as sciatica, because the main nerve to the leg (the sciatic nerve) is being irritated by pressure on it.
Sciatica can be caused by a herniated disc.
We specialize in Non-surgical spinal decompression using the DRX 9000 in our New York City Back pain treatment office.
visit us online at www.drshoshany.com