Lordex Spinal Decompression
What to Expect
Our mission is to help you experience the greatest benefits possible. Our physicians and care staff are dedicated to your needs.
You will most likely require 20-30 procedure sessions to regain functional capacity, restore spinal motion dynamics and decompress affected nerves. The average number of procedures to reach optimum spinal function for most patients is 25.
Each 45-minute long visit follows a simple protocol. We request that you kindly arrive 10 minutes early to complete a visual pain analog and prepare for your Lordex procedure.
You are invited to dress comfortably; many patients prefer warmup clothes to change into prior to treatment.
Before starting either the Lordex Decompression Unit or the Strength Machine, you will be asked to please remove any objects from your person and to visit the restroom.
The doctor or physical therapist will determine at each procedure on which machine you will begin. On some days it may be appropriate to use the Strengthening Machine first, on others, the Lordex.
Unless otherwise prescribed, the Lordex procedure is 30 cycles of decompression of approximately 30 minutes. You are welcome to bring your favorite CD to enjoy while relaxing on the Lordex. During each procedure, you will be fitted with a pelvic harness and a chest vest. While you are comfortably positioned on your back, a knee wedge will support your legs and a small lordotic bladder will support your lumbar region. The Lordex decompression table slowly and gently separates to relieve you of pressure that pinches the nerves. This allows for vital circulation to be restored to the damaged, painful areas of the lower back. This stimulates your body's natural healing process.
Following the 30 cycles of decompression, you will begin strength restoration therapy on the Strengthening Machine to re-stabilize your spine. Next to the leg muscles, the ldx2 muscles of the lower back (erector spinae) are the largest muscle group in the body. Without the strength and support of these muscles, the low back becomes weak and unstable. The Strengthening Machine was designed to effectively make your back strong and stable.
Each Strengthening Machine procedure consists of:
1. Pelvic stabilization.
2. Eccentric/concentric progressive resistance throughout your own range of motion in both flexion and extension.
3. Release.
During each session you will be coached on movement form, breathing, control and focus on the lumbar spine. The 60-80 flexion/extension repetitions introduce a kinetic activity that produces strength gain and stabilization.
The final procedure following the Lordex and Strengthening Machine is the Lordex Stretch/Flex program. This involves passive stretching in a treatment suite performed by a Lordex therapist.
The goal of the Lordex Stretch/Flex program is to improve our guests' overall range of motion and flexibility.
Please note, each of our guests will undergo approximately 25 45-minute sessions to advance from a state of dysfunction to restored functional capacity. Our doctors, therapists and care staff are committed to improving your quality of life. Your health and general well-being is our priority.
What does Lordex Mean?
"Lord" for the Lordosis region of the spine. "Ex" for exercise. The proprietary equipment developed by Lordex took 15 years of research to become what is now known in doctors' offices across the country as the Lordex Lumbar Spine System. The system is comprised of the Lordex Decompression Unit, the Strengthening Machine Lordex Strength Restoration machine, and the therapist-assisted Lordex Stretch-Flex program.
How does Lordex Work?
Lordex targets the lumbar muscles to reintroduce kinetic activity. The Lordex Decompression Unit then comfortably tractions the spinal joint, decompressing the disk and reducing pain. Unlike conventional traction that stretches the back only, the Lordex Decompression procedure aids in reconstitution and disc healing, allowing increased circulation to the damaged area.
The therapy is gentle, yet effective.
Each Lordex session is administered by a member of our clinical staff. The complete program requires 20-30 hours over a four- to six-week period. Our guests find the experience relaxing and painless.
The technology is advanced and recognized. Lordex guests have been able to enjoy a clinical success rate of 86% for favorable treatment, greatly enhancing their overall quality of life.
How is Lordex different than surgery?
Surgery of the spine is serious, yet sometimes unavoidable. Fortunately, less than 1% of all low back pain sufferers are surgical candidates. But just because you don't need surgery doesn't mean you don't need treatment. Lordex is the logical choice.
Lordex provides successful long-term relief from back pain, but from the standpoint of a non-operative closed procedure. Surgery is open reduction decompression. Lordex is closed reduction decompression. Surgery is open fusion for stabilization. Lordex is closed stabilization through increased paraspinal muscle strengthening.
There are three phases of the Lordex Procedure.
Phase 1 is Relief.
As a general rule, most guests experience significant changes in symptoms within the first three to eight Lordex procedures. Occasionally, a more advanced degenerative condition or multiple level herniated discs may take 10-15 sessions before realizing a major decline in symptoms. Also, some guests appear to have rapid relief after the first treatment. Relief response varies according to age, body morphology and degree of severity.
Phase 2 is Correction.
As strength is regained in the lumbar spine, circulation is restored to the damaged disc, and the healing begins. Correction implies that the progressive process that leads to the painful episode has been slowed, stopped or reversed. This corrective process occurs simultaneously with symptom relief.
Phase 3 is Strengthening.
The process that leads to most low back pain (mechanical spinal pathology) involves destabilization of the support structures, degeneration and ultimately re-stabilization. The Lordex procedure quickly reintroduces kinetic activity to the joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments to help you regain back strength and restore lost lumbar stability.
Each guest will complete 20 - 30 Lordex procedures at various paces. Some prescriptions will be daily for 20 - 30 treatments; others may be daily for 1-2 weeks followed by a decreasing frequency. At The Chiropractic Rehab Center, your individual condition dictates the prescription for your care.
*Certain insurance companies consider lumbar decompression an experimental therapy and therefore it may not be covered as a benefit of your policy.
Information provided by LORDEX® Spine Institute
More information: Disc Herniation
