Lordex Therapy
Lordex Lumbar Spine System

For those with lower back pain, SHRC offers the latest noninvasive technology: A gentle and successful alternative to lower back surgery. SHRC is one of the first independently owned chiropractic clinics in Houston, Texas to offer treatment using the Lordex Lumbar Spine System. The Lordex system is not just a machine, it is not “traction,” but it is a state of the art, precisely calibrated apparatus (what is that is currently providing back pain patients with a perceived 91.7 % success rate (per most recent studies, June, 2004).

The background science that went into the development of the first Lordex systems has been refined and recreated for the past 15 years, resulting in the equipment our clinic has obtained and is now using to offer you the latest in back pain management. A combination of the old principles of traction, along with the medical community’s most recent research and accomplishments, has been put together to create this treatment program.

Types of Treatments Before Lordex Decompression
For those suffering from lower back pain, the Lordex decompression system makes sense. Until the Lordex decompression program was presented, the medical community and its patients had fewer choices in the treatment of lower back pain. The normal paths of conventional medical treatment included (and still include) pain medications, surgery, manipulations, physical therapy, and acupuncture. Though all these treatments are valid and often very successful for other medical issues, the patient with low back pain is rarely cured.

Simple Explanation of Causes of Lower Back Pain
21 million Americans will suffer “life altering” back pain by the time they are forty years old. Causes of back pain are divided into two categories: Medical, and Mechanical. Only 3% of back pain patients endure medical back pain. Examples of Medical spine issues are fractures, tumors, infections and metabolic diseases. The Lordex decompression system is not for these.

The other 97% of back pain patients, on the other hand, suffer due to “mechanical spinal failure” … simply put, their backs begin to hurt as they age and their spines no longer perform the task of keeping them upright.

The aging process, along with a lifetime of poor ergonomic work conditions, trauma related injuries that never heal, osteoarthritis, and various other factors are to blame for most of America’s lower back pain. As people age, their ligaments, muscles, and tendons undergo wear and tear, eventually weakening the support system for the “lordosis” (the normal curvature of the spine, designed by nature to support the body in a balanced fashion). As age throws off their balance, people begin experiencing back pain when their vertebrae (the bony parts of their spines) begin to shift and disintegrate, causing the discs (the softer, cartilage cushion between the bones) to be pinched, or compressed. When the discs become compressed, they squeeze out from between the vertebrae, sometimes cracking (causing fissures) and frequently compressing a nerve root. This compression is extremely painful, and the pain will, without treatment, can become so severe that it alters one’s quality of life. No one should suffer this sort of pain.

Specific Conditions of Spinal Instability - Lordex Can Help
• Disc Herniation (“Herniated Disc)
• Degenerative Joint Disease (Osteoarthritis)
• Sciatica (serious pain coursing down leg(s))
• Facet Syndrome
• Other degenerative conditions that can be relieved by decompressing a disc

Currently, most physicians deal with the above issues by using pain medications. Sometimes, doctors will try pain medications combined with physical therapy. However, traditional physical therapy generally does not contain a movement or exercise that will strengthen the lower back muscles … especially those called the “lumbar erectois” muscle group.

These muscles are a part of the sets of muscle groups that one hears about lately being referred to as the “core”…the “core” is the series of muscles that surround the lower spine from all sides, including the abdominals, the latissimus dorsi, etc. The lumbar erectois muscle group is the most difficult set of muscles to isolate in order to create strength. It is difficult, if not almost impossible, to directly strengthen these muscles in a typical gym setting, because traditional work out equipment does not include a system to isolate this vital set of support muscles. The Lordex system does possess the technology and physical machinery to exercise and improve the lumbar erectois muscle group, a muscle group essential to creating spinal lordosis stability.

Methods and Results of Other Medical Treatments Offered to Back Pain Patients
As mentioned earlier, conventional forms of treatment for lower back pain include medications (including narcotics), medications combined with physical therapy, chiropractic manipulations, and even acupuncture. Then, as these attempts usually fail, surgery is proposed.

Surgery risks are numerous and very serious, including risks from anesthesia, scar tissue, infections and possible additional internal damage created by the surgery. And then, pain relief is not always accomplished. After surgery, the body tends to create scar tissue, and scar tissue can grow internally until it actually causes more nerve compression, thereby causing yet more pain. As time goes on, the pain is more difficult to control, because it is no longer caused by one single physical cause (say, a herniated disc compressing a nerve), but by that new scar tissue that continues to grow and push on more nerves, causing a more widespread, untreatable pattern of nerve pain. These are but a few reasons that surgery to treat lower back pain should be considered only as a last resort.

How the Lordex Spine Decompression Program Works
The treatment process involves a series of 20–30 sessions. For the first week or two of the treatment procedure, the patient is seen five times a week, then three times a week, until the number of treatments judged necessary to achieve recovery is completed. Each visit takes one hour. Here is how it works:

Of course, first, you visit with Dr. Darin Mitchell, who will take a complete medical history and give you a sincere medical opinion on whether or not the Lordex system is for you. Remember, you are probably in the 97% of all patients who can have lower back pain relieved by the Lordex program!

Next, if you decide to try the Lordex system, you will be scheduled for a series of appointments. Our clinic works to keep your appointment times as convenient for you as possible. For your treatments, be sure to bring with you, or wear, loose fitting, comfortable clothes. (Note, slacks, or shorts work – skirts can encumber the “stretch/flex” portion of the visit).
The first phase of each treatment begins by strengthening the important lumbar muscles with the “Rx-1” segment of the machinery. The patient is correctly positioned on the Rx-1 machine with legs secured in position, and is then supervised as using this piece of equipment begins to isolate and stabilize the targeted lumbar muscles.

Next comes the decompression portion of the treatment. This is the cool part. The patient lies comfortably on the big Lordex table portion of the equipment, wearing a comfortable pelvic harness. The Lordex table does the work as it slowly, gently, almost imperceptibly stretches the lower spine. Patients can listen to music and have the lights dimmed. Some of our patients just take a nap during this part. Patients report that the Lordex process does not “hurt”. They do feel sensations, of course, but the gradual, carefully calculated amount of stretching generally keeps discomfort to a minimum. After lying on the table for 30 minutes, the patient’s legs and lower back are carefully stretched therapeutically before being assisted from the prone position to sitting up.

Then, the patient stands up and walks to Rx-1 for his next portion of the session, a reactivation of the subject lumbar muscles that have relaxed during the table portion of the treatment.
Finally, the patient is instructed in a “stretch/flex” program to perform at home (or at the office, if possible). Some patients report a sensation of “fragility” as they leave the office…followed by a sensation later of the lowest portion of their spine feeling “rounded” if they are lying down (on a hard surface, such as their floor,) and slowly lift up to a sitting position. This is the sensation Dr. Darin wants to accomplish. This tells him that your spine is responding to the stretching in the correct mechanical fashion.

The pain relief obtained by patients is achieved by causing several “mechanical” situations that are beneficial: 1) more room is physically created between vertebrae to provide herniated or compressed discs with more space; 2) as the disc retreats to its proper location, it stops compressing nerves and 3) the decompression process aids in allowing the disc to reconstitute (rehydrate) and heal. The healing is caused partially by the increased blood circulation to the damaged area.

So Does it Really Work?
Scientific studies are showing an approximate 91.7% perceived success rate. Our patients report astounding results. Those who have degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, compressed or herniated discs and related conditions are finding relief. Many people who suffer after one or several back surgeries find that their pain levels go down dramatically Remember, those surgical procedures usually cause people to grow internal scar tissue, (as described above) and scar tissue causes increasing pain by damaging nerve endings, creating neuropathy (nerve damage), and more disc degeneration as it aggravates previously healthy tissue and pushes that healthy tissue aside to cause more nerve compression.

That nerve compression is what is causing pain. And the Lordex system relieves that compression. No scalpels. No anesthesia risks. No infections. The relative safety of this system makes this process an obvious first choice to any patient with lumbar pain. And the treatment is very affordable!

Contact our office to schedule your initial consultation. Again, the treatment program is very affordable (especially when compared to the alternatives), and is often covered by your insurance. The exact cost is based upon the number of treatments required, so you will be informed of the exact amount at your initial consultation. To verify that your insurance covers the cost of this treatment, simply provide out staff your insurance information, and we are happy to confirm that for you, usually while you are consulting Dr. Darin. Or, you can call us with your information or simply fax us a copy of your insurance card. Further, our clinic has established a payment plan for patients without the coverage for this procedure.

Nonetheless, the Lordex decompression system is a clear first choice when considering the physical pain involved (Lordex vs. Spinal surgery) and considering the affordability of our Lordex process vs. a surgical procedure. Don’t spend another day in pain: just call us. Our greatest joy is helping another person become pain free. That feeling is what makes us love our jobs! We want you to be able to enjoy yours, as well.