First Day of Treatment

The actual treatments will be divided into either DRX/VAX-D treatment days or Postural Restoration therapy days. The DRX/VAX-D treatments usually take between 75 to 90 minutes and the Postural Restoration treatments between 60 to 75 minutes. Typically patients who have disc problems and biomechanical problems will have 15-20 DRX/VAX-D treatments and 8-10 Postural Restoration treatments, interdispersed over a 4-6 week period. This protocol may be modified slightly if the treatments are for the cervical spine verses the lumbar spine.

Both types of treatments will begin with a warm up phase for the muscles and tissues that often includes electrical stimulation and a heat modality like warm water aquatic massage or moist heat packs. Both types of treatments will also conclude with a cool down phase that often includes a wrap around vaso-compressive ice treatment or use of ice or cold packs. Each of these phases of patient care will be coordinated by the Physical Therapy Technicians who assist the Spine Therapists.

The DRX/VAX-D session will start with the warm up phase and then each patient will meet one on one with one of the Spine Therapists to evaluate the position of the pelvis and or rib cage. A muscle energy corrective treatment may be used to move the pelvis and spine into a neutral position so the decompression treatments can be directed into spinal segments that have a limited amount of torque and protective muscle guarding acting on them.

Harnesses will be comfortably placed across the pelvic/low back area and upper torso area for lumbar patients so the decompression treatments can be isolated at the appropriate level. Cervical patients will not have harnesses placed, but will lay on their back and be comfortably positioned and secured into a cervical support system for isolating the level of cervical decompression. The actual treatments on the DRX/VAX-D system will take anywhere from 30-45 minutes. Most patients watch a DVD, listen to music or sleep during the treatment. Any questions, concerns or discomfort will be immediately attended to by the spine rehab team during the course of decompression.

The Postural Restoration sessions will also start with a warm-up phase, and then proceed into a one on one session with one of our Spine Therapists trained in the assessment and treatment of biomechanical pelvic and rib cage problems. A series of corrective exercises and restorative techniques will be introduced to help the patient use specific muscles to reposition any asymmetries and then specific patterns of muscles to strengthen and stabilize the corrected pelvic and rib cage positions.

Because the diaphragm has prominent attachment sites to both sides of the rib cage and the anterior aspect of the lumbar spine, its position and the way each patient uses it to breathe will be an important part of the exercise session. Careful attention to proper technique and breathing with each part of the exercise will be a priority for each of these sessions. Patients will be given detailed instruction sheets, complete with images, arrows and written instructions, to help ensure success with the home program.

The home exercise program will be designed to complement the DRX/VAX-D treatments and will be developed during the 4-6 week window a patient is in our program. They will perform a 15-30 minute home exercise session 1 to 2 or 3 times per day, depending which part of the program they are progressing through. They will continue these activities for an additional 2 or 3 months on their own at home to ensure that they maintain everything they achieved during the course of their rehabilitation. During this 2-3 months, they will transition from needing to do the exercises on a daily basis to much less frequent and eventually not needing them at all. During this time, they will be returning to normal functional activities with proper postures in sitting, standing, sleeping and working.

If a patient is receiving Med-X or MCU spine stabilization treatments, they will prepare for the visit similar to a Postural Restoration session and then move into the exercise portion of the visit on either the Med-X or MCU equipment as prescribed. These treatments also progress through strengthening and stabilization phases and move into an independent wellness component that the patient can perform on their own. Post-rehab wellness options are available for discharged patients for a very nominal monthly fee. This fee includes use of the rehab equipment, treatment areas and the HydroWorx pool to help patients who desire long term follow up and want to be closely monitored as they transition back into normal daily function.