Decompression table, spinal decompression table or non surgical decompression tables are all terms used for computerized traction tables that do spinal decompression. Decompression Tables are used for patients that are suffering from back and neck pain.
Spinal decompression tables are high-tech form of mechanical traction devices, controlled by a computer, which can provide relief in many cases of back pain. Unfortunately, it is widely promoted with unsubstantiated claims that it can correct all cases of degenerated and herniated discs without surgery.
When the FDA cleared spinal decompression tables as traction devices, it set limits on what the manufacturer can claim. However, unscrupulous providers and one manufacturer in particular, Axiom International, the manufacturer of the DRX-9000 table, have exceeded these limits and consequently lost their homologation from Health Canada. You have to understand that non-surgical spinal decompression therapy may provide relief for properly selected patients, but it is not a cure all magic bullet.
Some believe that manual treatment can usually accomplish the same thing more quickly, safely, and less expensively. This couldn’t be further from the truth: the same people also say that over 80% of back pain will go away on its own after 30 days, so you should not spend your money on spinal decompression. You have to understand that spinal decompression is for those patients who have much worse back conditions and have had them for months: herniated discs and chronic back pain. Such conditions do not go away on its own and, in most cases, won’t respond well to more traditional methods such as physical therapy, acupuncture, medication, massage therapy, osteopathy or chiropractic.
Others will market a particular decompression table brand as being the only device capable of curing your back or neck pain. This is a deceiving way of saying “come to our clinic and our magical table will take away your suffering”. The truth is, spinal decompression therapy is a chiropractic technique which is administered by a competent certified chiropractic, medical or osteopathic doctor. You should ask for a certified decompression therapy practitioner (CDTP), one that will do an exam, read your MRI, do a differential diagnosis and set up a treatment plan adapted to your diagnosis. Remember, most spinal decompression table will do the job if the practitioner knows what he is doing. The doctor treats you, not the table.
There are many decompression table manufacturers out there: Vax-D, Accu-Spina, DRX-3000, DRX9000, SpineMED, and Lordex Traction Unit, Triton DTS 600, Z-Grav, Chattanooga ADP-400, ATX, Eurotech DOC, Saunders, Spina IDD , Da Vinci X10, Alpha Spina, Extentrac, Kennedy, Antalgic Trak, etc . All have been FDA approved as decompression devices.