3 Phases of DTS Therapy

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PhaseI: Treatment

You will be comfortably positioned on the table and fitted with a wrap-around harness. This restraint is what allows the unloading of the spine and discs by the traction motor. Your position on the table, the harness, and angle of the gentle distraction allows for accurate and focused treatment to the affected disc or discs. Once comfortable on the DTS the computer controlled traction device is programmed to deliver a gentle stretching force to the spinal vertebra. This force is delivered directly to the harness system. The DTS system applies the gentle force then releases it for a determined amount of time and repeats throughout the session. The total treatment time is usually less than 18 minutes and often just l0 minutes initially. Most patients report simply feeling a subtle and gentle stretching at their lower back or around their hips. Since DTS Therapy is a comfort-based procedure, patients usually report a sense of relief and relaxation during the session. Many patients even fall to sleep.

Imbibing the Discs

The gentle stretching and relaxing of the spine fosters a phenomenon called "imbibition". In the simplest of terms, this is the way a normal disc gets nutrition. This pumping action promotes nutrition intake into the discs, something often lost in damaged and degenerative disc conditions. In healthy discs, imbibition occurs naturally with daily motions and body positions and accounts for the increase of disc thickness in the morning and decrease at night. A disc with poor imbibition, fewer nutrients and hydration, is more likely to become injured and painful. Stretching, or tractioning the imbibition. This can re-supply the disc with nutrients and blood contact that help the disc heal from the inside out. Also the dramatic decrease of pressure in the disc (decompression) can foster the drawing in of a bulge and help take pressure off a "pinched" spinal nerve.

Re Establish Structural Support

Although most patients report a dramatic reduction of their pain within as few as five treatments, an injured spinal disc needs time to heal. This is why we urge you to be regular with your prescribed treatments and office visits. Research shows to completely heal some discs a regular program of home exercises, prescribed by your doctor will need to be followed. Spinal disc structures can take months to heal. Even though your pain may be gone, you must stay on the treatment plan in order to keep your spine healthy.

As you become more mobile and more able to return to your normal lifestyle, your increased activity is what your spine needs most. Now you will be imbibing the discs naturally, like people with healthy discs. Movement is life, and your spine depends on the muscle activity to support your spine, and create fluid movement to and from the discs.

DTS Spinal Decompression Therapy is performed on a specially designed table in either a face up or face down position. Clinical consideration and your comfort are used in deciding which position will be best for you. We may begin in one position but in later sessions it may be necessary to change positions. You will remain fully dressed during the treatment though we recommend wearing loose fitting clothes, and removal of your belt and objects from your pockets.