MIND/BODY
A Pain in the Back
DRX9000TM, a non-invasive treatment for lower-back pain
By Nell Stundell
Who wants to have back surgery? Nobody – unless you’re a masochist.
Yet many people who suffer from chronic lower-back pain resort to surgery when physical therapy, cortisone injections, pain medication, and acupuncture provide no relief.
If you suffer from pain associated with bulging or herniated discs, sciatica, degenerative disc disease, or posterior facet syndrome, you are not alone. According to an FDA report, the treatment for back pain is the second largest cause of medical expenditure in this country – and the most common cause of absenteeism from work.
Don’t despair. Help is on the way.
Dr. Alex Kaminsky, a Queens chiropractor whose daily agenda is treating back pain, never thought he would end up being a patient. But an injury he sustained while exercising turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He discovered a new non-surgical treatment for lower-back pain – the DRX9000TM. If that sounds like something from outer space or science fiction, you’re close.
“Being a healthcare practitioner did not make me immune to lower-back pain,” says Dr. Kaminsky. “I actually had to close my office for four days—I couldn’t treat my patients.”
After an MRI revealed two herniated spinal discs, he sought the help of a colleague who prescribed physical therapy and acupuncture. Nothing eased the pain, and surgery was not an option. “There is no such thing as risk-free surgery,” Dr. Kaminsky declares. “I started to do a bit of research, and found the concept of decompression. The DRX9000TM was an FDA-approved non-invasive breakthrough in medical technology that really appealed to me; it made sense.”
He found a New Jersey colleague, the first chiropracter in the greater New York area to offer the DRX9000TM treatment. “After my third visit I was able to sleep comfortably. By the tenth treatment I ordered a DRX9000TM for my own practice, and completed the treatments in my office. I wanted to make sure my discs actually healed. A year later I am 100 percent.
“Through decompression, we are stretching the disc out off the nerve, thus forcing it to re-hydrate and heal,” he explains. “That’s why the treatment is very effective. Herniated or ruptured discs actually spill out onto the nerves and can cause nerve compression if help is not sought.”
In a series of 30 to 45 minute daily sessions – over a three-to-six-week period depending on the need – the patient wears an upper chest harness for shoulder support and is slowly reclined to a horizontal position while negative pressure is applied through decompression to the lower back to avoid muscle spasm. This increases fluid to the discs, and pushes the bulging disc back into place, which eliminates the pain.
I myself felt no pain after the initial decompression treatment. But according to Dr. Kaminsky and his colleague, Dr. Robert Browne, some patients may experience a little muscle soreness similar to how the body feels after exercising. Cold packs and electro-muscle stimulation is then applied, and rest at home is recommended.
Lillian Afant is a patient of Dr. Kaminsky’s who, at 83, has coped with debilitating pain for years. “Since my back surgery 15 years ago, I’ve had pain,” she says. “The last four years have been very bad. I thought I’d be in a wheelchair. After three decompression treatments, the sharpness of the pain diminished. I use a walker and am looking forward to not using it.”
More than ten years ago, scientists at NASA noticed the effects of spinal decompression on intervertebral discs during space travel. They saw that astronauts felt relief from lower-back pain in anti-gravity conditions. Even more remarkable was the fact that tests showed their discs had actually increased in size.
To duplicate the decompression phenomenon here on earth, a team of engineers and physicians from Axiom Worldwide in Tampa, Florida (who had worked for NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense) collaborated to develop the DRX9000TM.
“The company was founded in 2000 by Dr. Nicholas Exarhos, a chiropractor, and Jim Gibson, a business professional,” I was gold by Gary Dixon, director of sales for Axiom. “Over 500 DRX9000TM units have been sold thus far, primarily to chiropractic healthcare providers.”
The DRX9000TM decompression treatment, though FDA approved, is still considered an alternative chiropractic treatment, but Marcia Harris, M.D., a New York City physician who acquired a DRX9000TM for her practice, says: “It’s covered by most insurance companies. Anyone with disc problems should try it first – it really works.”
Decompression is a preventive treatment that costs between $3,500 and $4000 for a series – a fraction of the cost of back surgery. While most members of the traditional medical community have not yet incorporated decompression into their treatment plans, integrative departments have been established at some hospitals.
Michael J. Kellis, an osteopath and Director of Sports Medicine at Geauga Regional Hospital in Chardon, Ohio, affirms how essential alternative medical treatment is. “We are a very large orthopedic group,” says Kellis. “We are using the DRX9000TM as an adjunct to our treatment protocol, and it is a very vital part of our program.”
Dr. Kaminsky recently acquired another machine – the Extentrac EliteTM – developed by Dr. David F. Cuccia of Syosset, Long Island. According to Dr. Kaminsky, its multi-directional disc decompression system is more advanced than anything else on the market. And the technology is always improving.
Many chiropractors have not acquired the DRX9000TM because it is expensive, (approximately $10,000), and some remain satisfied with other treatment modalities – spinal adjustment, electro-stimulation, exercise. These treatments do offer relief, but decompression has proved successful in eliminating lower back pain long-term.
“Many of my patients have tried different therapies,” says Dr. Kaminsky. “They’ve tried physical therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, pain medicines, injections, and some have even had surgery. Decompression is what gives them the best results.”
To learn more about decompression, click on healdisc.com or on practitioners websites listed below:
Queens:
Dr. Alex Kaminsky
70-11 108th Street
@ 70th Rd. & Queens Blvd
Forest Hills, NY 11375
DiscPain.com
(718) 544-1524
Staten Island:
Dr. Robert Browne
4634 Amboy Road
Staten Island, NY 10312
DocBPainFree.com
(718 )356-8438
Brooklyn:
Dr. Marc Felderstein
3419 Quentin Road
Brooklyn, NY 11234
BrooklynDRX.com
(718) 627-8042
New Jersey:
Dr. Giulio Caruso
200 Hwy 34
Colts Neck, NJ 07722
Totalcarewellness.com
(732) 332-9000
Dr. Russell Reynolds
204 Eagle Rock Ave.
Roseland, NJ 07068
RoselandSpinalRehab.com
(973) 228-1488
