Dr. Eben Davis. Dr. Davis is a chiropractor in San Francisco who specializes in non-surgical methods of back and wrist pain treatment. I left a comment on his blog asking for help understanding the benefits of the new decompression machine, and I hope to hear back from him soon. For your convenience, I am also including the full text of my comment below. As I continued searching through the blogosphere, I came upon another excellent blog dealing with orthopedics, aptly titled "Orthopedic." One post on this blog was dedicated to the discussion of spinal surgical techniques. As I had a few questions about these procedures, I also left a comment there. As with my first post, it is also available in full text below."What is Degenerative Disc Disease? Can the DRX9000 Help?"
Comment:
"Hi Dr. Davis, I’m a student at the University of Southern California and I have a great interest in spinal therapy for a couple of reasons. First of all, I suffer from sciatica due to a herniated disc. Secondly, I plan to go to med school after graduation and I’m currently looking at orthopedics as a specialty.
I think that this new machine looks like a great treatment method for people with back pain. Surgery should be kept as a last resort, and innovative ideas like this will surely help reinforce that. How long does one session on the DRX machine provide relief for a patient? I saw on the DRX website that the treatment effectively relieves pressure on lumbar discs that are bulging or even ruptured. What I don’t understand is how the disc returns to normal after the pressure is relieved. If a disc has ruptured, how does it pull itself back together all of a sudden during this treatment? I can imagine that a herniated disc might be able to reassume a normal shape, but is there really any way that a patient with a ruptured disc can get an effective resolution of pain non-surgically?
Additionally, how do you feel about this new article published in the British Medical Journal last week (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080131214541.htm) saying that stretching does not effectively decrease back pain? I personally disagree with these results, as I have achieved almost complete success through stretching and exercising my back over the last 18 months since my injury. Basic yoga has done worlds of good for me. When my back tightens up, whether as a result of stress or bad posture, I always find the most relief from stretching on the floor in the Cobra Pose. I also have worked to strengthen my lower back with the Full Locust Pose. Of course, my personal success with this kind of treatment does not necessarily prove its validity in general.
I am looking forward to learning more about this field, so any insights you could offer would be greatly appreciated."
"What are the Spinal Orthopedic Procedures?"
Comment:
"Great post – it’s hard to find good information on these techniques online. I hadn’t realized that some surgeons operate from the front of the patient when operating on the spine. What is the benefit of this approach? I had thought that herniations occurred on the posterior side of lumbar and/or cervical discs.
What are your thoughts on non-surgical treatments for disc herniations? I have been researching this for a while, and it seems like many people have personal success stories with alternative treatments like yoga and spinal decompression with a chiropractor, but the medical community at large seems to disagree. What, in your opinion, is the best treatment plan from injury to full resolution of pain? I suffered a herniated lumbar disc about 18 months ago, and I have always kept surgery as a last resort. I have instead taken the non-invasive route and tried my best at yoga, with some dramatic success. As of now, I am almost 100% pain free.
I think that the idea of minimally invasive spinal surgery is a great one. It’s amazing that the same goal can be met either with a hazardous open procedure or a relatively benign laparoscopic one. How long have minimally invasive surgeries been around for the spine? I have read on numerous sites that they are new, but I haven’t seen any actual dates.
Once again, thank you for posting this here – a good resource is invaluable for someone looking for information on back pain treatments. Surgery, especially, is never really discussed in any sense other than outcomes. Plenty of people write about their own experiences with surgery, but you are the first I have seen to write in detail about each of the different options."
1 comment:
JDM,
I found your post both informative and and well written. In both of your comments to other blogs, you pose a lot of questions to the authors. I believe that this is a great method for getting a response from them, as the more questions you ask, the less likely they are to simply ignore your post. Furthermore, you do a great job of providing your own insight throughout each comment. Your personal experience such as discussing your success with different yoga positions and stretching, and your feelings about having a herniated disc makes your work very strong and gives you credentials so to speak, that support your claims and questions. You manage to be professional with the authors, but at the same time casual which is something to be desired when posting on another's blog. Your overall work was fantastic, however there were still some minor things about the post that I thought could be improved. One thing that is easily remedied, is the use of hyper links in the opening paragraph. Although it is difficult in the opening to start linking certain terms, I think it would be beneficial to your readers if you linked each blog title to the blog itself. You could also do this with the individual posts, and although your "comment" header already is a link to the post, giving the opportunity to explore the post numerous times makes your work more organized. The only other suggestion I have is that you add more of your own opinion and analysis in your comments. You are a talented writer and very knowledgeable on the subject, use that to your advantage. When people see how smart and insightful you are, they will be drawn to your post which is definitely something you want. Overall, your work was superb, keep it up.
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