Essex physiotherapist helps slipped disc sufferer avoid surgery with IDD Therapy

38 year old scaffolder, Scott Bryan suffered with excruciating sciatica (leg pain) for months as a result of a herniated ('slipped') disc.  At the height of his pain, he was unable to work, sleep or enjoy any family activities.

Physiotherapist Dan Smith with  happy patient ,Scott

After osteopathy and acupuncture failed to help him, a spine consultant suggested surgery - with the usual four month wait for an operation.

Meanwhile, Scott was helped back to health with a programme of IDDTherapy at Sports & Spinal Physio in Brentwood, Essex. The clinic is part of a UK network of  IDD Therapy Spine Centres providing the targeted disc treatment to back and neck pain sufferers.

Since the treatment programme Scott's pain has drastically reduced and he's able to walk, drive and sleep properly again.

"Best of all, I’ve just had a great Easter break with my family and been able to play footie with the boys again.  It’s really not an exaggeration to say that IDD Therapy has changed my life completely. " 
  

Read Scott's story by clicking below:

Sports & Spinal Physio IDD Therapy success story 

The clinic’s Director, physiotherapist Dan Smith is a back and neck pain expert who works closely with local GPs and pain consultants. 

Sports and Spinal Physio is a leading back pain and sports injury clinic in Brentwood, Essex.
You can reach the team at: 01277 219553
www.sportsandspinalphysio.co.uk

Herniated Disc Treatment Video - IDD Therapy at SpinePlus Clinics London

With clinics in London and Essex, SpinePlus was amongst the first in the UK to provide IDD Therapy spinal decompression.

Now with two locations having the latest SDS SPINA machines, the team have produced a fly on the wall style video to let back pain sufferers see exactly what is involved when they have IDD Therapy treatment.




For more information visit the SpinePlus website at www.spineplus.co.uk  or call 0845 6492979.

SpinePlus IDD Therapy locations - Fitzroy Square London
                                                             Chigwell, Essex

For more details about IDD Therapy treatment, visit www.iddtherapy.co.uk 

How do herniated discs occur and what are the best treatment options?

“Ouch….I’ve slipped a disc!” 

Low back pain affects over 80% of the population at some point in their lives and it’s the second most popular reason for visiting the GP after the common cold. It comes in many guises but a herniated or ‘slipped’ disc is one of the easiest things to succumb to and is one of the most difficult types of back pain to relieve. 

This article examines the ways in which herniated discs can occur and explains the treatment options available to help patients get back to their usual daily activities.

Contrary to popular belief, slipped discs are not just common to people who do manual work involving heavy lifting: many office-based workers succumb to disc problems as a result of sitting in one position for too long, putting pressure on the disc walls so that they weaken over time.

The spine is made up of 24 individual bones called vertebrae which are stacked on top of each . Discs are the protective circular pads of connective tissue in between - the ‘padding’ which acts as shock absorbers, protecting the spine when we run or jump.

We cause small weaknesses in our spine all day long with prolonged sitting or standing in certain positions, for example at workstations or hunched over the ironing board.

The intervertebral discs are unlike other parts of the body in the sense that they have a limited nerve supply.

Very often we are not aware of the discs being under strain until the accumulation of months or years of stress has reached a point where small tears form in the outer disc wall. These tears can result in several months of nagging discomfort.

As a defence-mechanism against further damage, the body will often react to this situation with muscle spasm or at the very least, ‘muscle guarding’ which is when the long muscles of the spine tighten up. This causes compression of the discs and a lack of mobility in the spine. 

If this situation prevails, the tears can very often become worse and allow the inner jelly like part of the disc – the nucleus – to herniate outwards. This is referred to as a herniated, bulging or ‘slipped’ disc.

Disc problems can also cause pain in other areas of the body, the most common of which is sciatica, a grinding pain which travels down the length of the leg.  Sciatica can be caused by the bulging part of the disc squashes the nerve root next to the disc or when chemicals from a prolapsed disc irritate the nerve endings.  

Neck pain, headaches or numbness in the foot can also be a sign of a damaged disc. So, what are your options for treatment?

Your first port of call should always be a good osteopath, physiotherapist or chiropractor who will have experience in treating disc-related problems. With this type of manual therapy in most cases you should see a marked improvement in your condition in 6-8 weeks.

At the same time, if you are in so much pain that you can’t sleep then your GP can prescribe you painkillers and/or anti-inflammatory medicines which can be taken alongside physical treatment.

If you see no real sign of improvement after eight weeks of manual therapy, it would be advisable to get an MRI scan of your spine to confirm the possible causes of your pain and the location (level) of the spine affected.

If a disc problem is identified, a programme of treatment including IDD Therapy non-surgical spinal decompression may be recommended.

IDD Therapy is a computer-controlled mechanical treatment used by clinicians to gently and safely relieve pressure on specific discs, alleviate muscle spasm and increase mobility in the spine.
 
As part of the IDD Therapy programme, patients undergo a course of core-strengthening exercise to help them maintain their healthy spine.

In a small number of cases, patients with severe disc damage/degeneration may require invasive treatments including injections and/or surgery. Also, in rare circumstances, the patient may require immediate surgery, for example, when the bowel and bladder function is affected.

There are different types of surgery for a herniated disc, the most common is the microdiscectomy where fragments of the disc may be cut away.

Another common type of spinal surgery is the lumbar fusion where the vertebrae surrounding a disc are fused together.

Thus, there are now several treatment options available to patients with herniated discs and indeed, a wider array of effective non-surgical options allowing more patients to avoid invasive procedures.

Robert Shanks BSc (Hons) Ost
Clinical Director
Spine Plus
Tel: 020 8501 0937
www.SpinePlus.co.uk
Spine Plus is a group of multidisciplinary clinics in London and Essex

For more details about IDD Therapy or to find your nearest IDD clinic, call Steadfast Clinics on 01279 602030 or visit www.SteadfastClinics.co.uk

A Clinician's Experience with IDD Therapy Spinal Decompression for Low Back Pain and Neck Pain

Osteopath Robert Shanks is the co-founding Clinical Director of Spine Plus, a group of multi-disciplinary back pain clinics based in London and Essex. He trained with The British Medical Acupuncture Society and is also a qualified electrotherapist.

Robert’s area of special interest is chronic low back pain and neck pain associated with bulging or herniated discs.  He is an advocate of innovation and technological advances in spinal care and uses IDD Therapy non-surgical spinal decompression to treat his chronic disc patients.

I first became interested in mechanical spinal distraction in 2002 and I started using a home-made cervical traction device based on pioneering osteopath, Alan Stoddard’s model featured in a book from the 1950′s!  Yes, it sounds a bit Wallace & Gromit but it did the job more effectively than using my hands alone.  I then started using portable traction beds which featured a manual pump allowing for intermittent sustained traction.

The object of these devices was of course, to distract the spine in order to take some pressure off the disc(s) and any pinched nerves.  We used it as part of a standard 30 minute treatment session.  

Developments in spinal decompression have come a long way since those primitive traction devices.  Indeed, traction per se created a divide amongst clinicians in its heyday: there were those like myself who found the tool a useful addition to manual therapy and there were others who saw too many shortcomings for it to be fully effective. 

One of the key shortcomings of traditional traction was the imprecise nature in which the treatment was applied, for example, the traction force was aimed non-specifically at the entire vertebrae and not at the particular segment we were trying to treat.  Moreover, as the linear ‘pull’ was unnatural to the body, it could actually cause muscles to spasm, leading to an increase in pressure and pain!  This meant that in order to ensure relative comfort for a patient, the treatment tended to be administered in short bursts of 10 to 15 minutes with a low traction force – which proved ineffective for many chronic conditions.

Around 2008 I began hearing about Intervertebral Differential Dynamics (IDD) Therapy, a non-surgical spinal decompression treatment which appeared to address the failings of traction quite systematically. 

These sophisticated IDD treatment machines were developed in the US in the late Nineties by a team of engineers and clinicians whose aim was to mechanically decompress the disc by improving upon traditional traction methods.

With modifications and revisions along the way and advances in computer technology, the team finally produced an FDA cleared class II decompression machine which, with computer-controlled forces directed at precise angles, was shown to distract targeted segments of the spine, e.g. L4/L5 from between 5 and 7mm – which had significant therapeutic implications. 

The decompression unit also included a unique oscillation feature capable of mobilising the joint at the point of maximum distraction – in much the same way as manual therapists mobilise other joints – but which given the strength of the spine, is difficult to do with the hands alone. 

Moreover, because the device used a gently progressing pulling force (sinusoidal waveform) which mimics the natural contraction mechanism of a muscle, the muscle remained relaxed and lengthened throughout the slow and consistent stretch without going into spasm.  Thus patients could enjoy the necessary higher pulling forces for longer, whilst remaining completely relaxed.

I read all of the clinical research papers on IDD Therapy but I was more interested to see the treatment in action and hear the experiences of clinicians in the UK who were already using it as part of a specialised rehabilitation programme for their herniated disc patients.

The clinicians I spoke to viewed IDD Therapy as a structured programme with patients having a series of regular hourly treatments spread over a number of weeks.  The sessions consisted of some heat therapy to warm up the target area followed by 25 minutes on the IDD machine. 

After the mechanical decompression, patients would have some cold therapy to prevent any temporary soreness caused by the soft tissues being worked in a new way.   Corrective exercise was introduced gradually as the programme progressed to help achieve lasting success.

I tried the treatment for myself on the latest IDD machine (the SDS Spina); I could really feel the differences which I’d heard and read about.  I decided to introduce the treatment at one of my clinics in April 2011.

In the last year the clinic has treated over a hundred patients with IDD Therapy.  These have tended to be patients with herniated or prolapsed discs whose symptoms of chronic back pain, neck pain and sciatica had prevailed despite standard manual treatments.  The clinical outcomes have been impressive: I would say that 70% of these patients have made good to excellent improvement.

A typical patient is 63 year old Rita from Chigwell who achieved an exceptional outcome with IDD Therapy after suffering for four years with an L1/2 disc bulge which surgeons would not operate on.  She had undergone countless manual treatments, facet joint injections and epidural injections without any lasting improvement.

After a series of IDD treatments she became pain and spasm-free and was able to return to work and carry out her daily household chores again.

Another patient had a considerable L4/5 disc bulge; after a programme of IDD Therapy the bulge had shrunk to less than a third of its size.

Although I have used IDD Therapy to treat acute pain, most IDD candidates have been in pain for several months, even years and have tried one or more manual treatments and/or injections without success.

For these patients, a programme of treatments spread over a number of weeks is necessary to achieve long lasting therapeutic changes to chronic conditions which have built up over time.

When patients first come to me, some are in so much pain that they are physically and emotionally exhausted and fearful of making the slightest movement.  Over the course of the IDD programme, we can help to change their outlook and expectations, setting them the realistic goal of becoming pain-free and being able to get back to their normal daily activities. 

We track all patients with research tools such as the Oswestry Disability Index, Visual Analogue Scale and other objective outcomes measures.

IDD Therapy is an invaluable treatment tool to me.  It has finally enabled me to offer something meaningful for disc patients which, in my experience, is preferable to surgery and more therapeutic than epidurals, nerve root blocks and facet joint injections.  

It’s hard to find a negative side to the treatment: an IDD session takes longer than a standard 30 minute manual treatment but we cannot cut elements of the session without having a detrimental effect on our treatment goals.  

By having IDD as a treatment tool to use alongside manual therapy, we are seeing more patients at the clinic and as our experience grows, we are better able to predict how to progress patients who of course, all have individual needs.

Since introducing IDD we have been able to treat several lumbar-surgery candidates; I know of patients who have been booked in for an operation and have tried IDD as a last resort and are now pain-free and active again.

Naturally, there are some patients who do not respond to treatment but generally speaking, my patients have had very good outcomes and from a personal perspective, it’s hugely satisfying to know that I have been able to do more for them.

Robert Shanks BSc (Hons) Ost     
www.SpinePlus.co.uk

For information about IDD Therapy, call Steadfast Clinics on 01279 602030 or visit www.iddtherapy.co.uk

Coventry Physiotherapy Clinic Makes Herniated Disc Treatment Available To Back Pain Sufferers

The physiotherapy department at BMI The Meriden Hospital in Coventry now offers IDD Therapy non-surgical spinal decompression to people with chronic back pain, neck pain and related conditions including sciatica.

BMI has a well earned reputation and the investment in non-surgical treatment options for back pain demonstrates a commitment to providing the best non-invasive solution opportunities for their patients.

Herniated discs are a common cause of back pain and neck pain and IDD Therapy provides a tool to enable clinician to target injured spinal segments.

Physiotherapy Manager David Robinson (right)
with Stephen Small. IDD Therapy

Typical candidates for IDD Therapy spinal decompression treatment are those who have suffered with back pain for more than three months and have failed to respond adequately to standard manual therapy treatment.


The Meriden Hospital in Coventry is part of BMI Healthcare, the UK’s largest private hospital group.

BMI The Meriden Hospital
University Hospital Site
Clifford Bridge Road
Coventry
Warwickshire
CV2 2LQ

To arrange a consultation or to find out more, contact the Physiotherapy Department direct on 024 7664 7080  www.bmihealthcare.co.uk/meriden

To get a detailed information document about IDD Therapy or to watch a video demonstration of treatment, visit www.iddtherapy.eu

Herniated Disc: Treatment options for a herniated disc, sometimes referred to as a ‘slipped’ disc

Are you one of the thousands of people in the UK whose Easter will be blighted by back pain or neck pain caused by a herniated disc ('slipped' disc)?  If so, read on for more details about herniated disc treatment ...

Everyone knows someone who suffers with their back.  After all, back pain is the second most popular reason for visiting the GP after the common cold.  

Back pain comes in many guises but a herniated, prolapsed or ‘slipped disc’ can result in intense pain and when unresolved, can be one of the most difficult types of back pain to relieve.

Slipped discs do not just happen to people who do manual work involving heavy lifting: a disc can become prolapsed simply by bending down to pick up a pen from the floor or by climbing the stairs to bed!

The spine is made up of 24 individual bones called vertebrae which are stacked on top of each other.  Discs are the protective circular pads of connective tissue in between – the ‘shock absorbers' which protect the spine when we run or jump.

We cause small weaknesses in our spine all day long such as prolonged sitting or standing in certain positions, for example at workstations or hunched over the ironing board.  If we then make a slightly awkward movement, it is possible to rupture the outer casing of the disc and the gel inside to bulge outwards – rather like a jam doughnut being squeezed!

Disc problems can also cause pain in other areas of the body, the most common of which is sciatica, a grinding pain which travels down the length of the leg.  Neck pain, headaches or numbness in the foot can also be a sign of a damaged disc.  So, what are your options for treatment?

Your first port of call should always be a good osteopath, chiropractor or physiotherapist who will have experience in disc-related problems.  With this type of manual therapy, you should see a marked improvement in you condition in 6-8 weeks.  At the same time, if you are in so much pain that you can’t sleep then your GP can prescribe you painkillers and/or anti-inflammatory medicines which can be taken alongside treatment.

If you are no better after 8 weeks of manual therapy, it can be advisable to get an MRI scan of your spine to confirm the nature of the injury or damage to the disc.

Before the stage of invasive treatments such as spinal injections, steroids or even surgery, IDD Therapy spinal decompression is used by clinicians of different backgrounds to provide targeted treatment for disc-related problems (as well as other chronic back pain and neck pain conditions).

Developed in the USA to address the shortcomings of traction, IDD Therapy involves the gentle ‘distraction’ (drawing apart) of specific spinal segments where discs are damaged or herniated (bulging).

The treatment uses computerised pulling forces to gently relieve pressure on the discs and any trapped nerves.  Whilst doing so it also works the muscles, helping to get more movement into the joints.  Coupled with rehabilitation exercises, IDD Therapy can offer lasting pain relief.

66 year old June from Sussex suffered for 20 years after injuring her back whilst lifting people in her job as a carer.  She says:

“This time last year I couldn’t do anything at home; gardening, swimming and even household chores such as ironing would cause me terrible pain which also brought on bad headaches.

IDD has been fantastic for me; I’m swimming and gardening again, going for walks with my husband and doing my usual daily chores with ease now.” 

If IDD Therapy is not a suitable option for your condition and your pain is signifcantly impacting on your life then you may need to talk to a surgeon or pain consultant.  Whatever your condition, it is always advisable to obtain a second opinion before you undertake certain procedures. 

For more details about IDD Therapy treatment and to get a patient information leaflet, visit www.IDDTherapy.eu 

Low Back Pain Treatment - New IDD Therapy video

When people hear about IDD Therapy treatment for the first time, they have no way of appreciating what it is about. 

IDD Therapy Europe has a new video to help people with chronic back pain and neck pain appreciate how the treatment works.



Do you remember the first time you heard the word "Amazon", chances are you thought someone was talking about the rain forest.  You hear about it a few more times and now you think of the Amazon the 'book' seller more than the forest.

As one clinician recently said, "the time will come when IDD Therapy will be the default treatment for herniated discs and sciatica" . 

There is some way to go of course but we are getting there!


To download a patient or clinician information sheet, visit www.iddtherapy.eu  

Sussex Back Pain Clinic - IDD Therapy going from strength to strength

Sussex Back Pain Clinic is a long-established and highly respected osteopathy clinic in Brighton and Hove.  In 2010 it joined the growing number of clinics in the UK to adopt IDD Therapy non-surgical spinal decompression treatment for its back pain and neck pain sufferers.



The clinic’s Director, Steve Morris developed an interest in IDD Therapy treatment having heard of the outcomes reported at other clinics in the UK including the Leominster Osteopathic Clinic and The Buckingham Clinic in Glasgow.




SDS SPINA at Sussex Back Pain Clinic

 “IDD Therapy really started to get my attention at the beginning of last year.  IDD addresses the problems of traditional traction by targeting treatment to isolated segments of the spine in a safe gentle manner. 

IDD was reportedly providing solutions for patients with chronic back pain and neck pain, particularly those with disc-related problems.


“We hear a lot about new treatments but I was fortunate in that I knew some of the providers and so understood that they were serious. 

With my own experience treating discs, IDD Therapy had real appeal and having converted one of our small treatment rooms we got our IDD machine in October 2010.”

As with all new treatments, there is a gradual increase of awareness when a clinic has something new to offer their patients.  Already Steve Morris has some exceptional outcomes to share with prospective patients.



IDD Therapy treatment for low back pain

After three years of dull low back pain and sciatica 43 year old Neil found little relief from standard manual therapies.

“I injured my back whilst doing some heavy lifting at work.  The dull pain in my lower back came on quite suddenly and soon I had shooting pains down my leg.  I could only walk for ten minutes without the pain becoming unbearable.  I am a keen surfer but I couldn’t even bend down to pick up my surfboard!”



MRI scan confirms large disc prolapse

Finally, an MRI scan revealed that Neil was suffering with a prolapsed disc.  Steve Morris decided to treat Neil with a programme of IDD Therapy.  Neil gained relief within days of treatment.

Sussex Back Pain Clinic is seeing these outcomes on a weekly basis and uses established research tools to track and record patient progress.

The experiences are by no means exceptional; with over 800 clinics worldwide, IDD has helped hundreds of thousands of back and neck pain sufferers worldwide.

Steve Morris is unequivocal in his praise for IDD:

“This treatment has such potential.  Without doubt, some of the outcomes seen with IDD Therapy could not have been achieved with any conservative treatment.  For many back pain sufferers IDD is a revelation, allowing them to finally reclaim their lives.

Sussex Back Pain Clinic holds “open sessions” every month for sufferers to learn about back pain and the treatment programmes offered at the clinic.  For more details please call the clinic on 01273 725667 or go to http://www.sussexbackpainclinic.co.uk/ .

IDD Therapy - My back pain treatment today at Back Into Shape clinic in London

Today I visited the Back Into Shape clinic in Highgate North London www.backintoshape.co.uk.  The clinic has been providing IDD Therapy with a SPINA spinal decompression machine for a year now and I took the opportunity to have a treatment.

I haven’t had an IDD treatment in quite some time so my body had forgotten what it was like. 

Working with IDD Therapy, people often ask me what is the difference between IDD Therapy and traction.  There is a technical answer or a simple one. I say, "go on the machine and you will understand the difference immediately".

I think I would describe the feeling during IDD Therapy treatment as “comfortable, controlled power”.  You know you are having treatment; the pull or "distraction" from your pelvis is strong, yet you do not feel like it is going to be painful or cause you any harm. 

I’ve seen people on interesting traction devices and they are practically holding their breath to brace themselves during treatment!  Is it any wonder traction doesn’t work?

TREATMENT DURATION

Time on the SPINA machine lasts 25 minutes. The intermittent pulling forces with oscillation are strong and during treatment you feel like a big pressure is being taken off your lower back. 

The pulling force used with each IDD Therapy treatment is calculated as a function of your body weight. 

When you first start, particularly if you have a long standing back problem, the pulling force is calculated at just under half your body weight.  With each new treatment, the pulling force is increased in increments as your body gets used to treatment.  Changes occur in the soft tissues to free movement in the lower back and they become better able to accept higher forces.

In my case today, the pulling force was 93lbs or 43kgs. 

Most back pain can be resolved with manual therapy and exercise.  Some people will argue that all back pain can be resolved with manual techniques alone; we do not agree with that and the incidence of back pain does not support that.

Without going into lots of detail here about treatment, I think of that pulling force in relation to a heavy weight.  If you have ever been to a gym, have you tried to pick up a 40kg weight?  It’s heavy! 

Applying such decompression forces is simply not possible with the hands alone for any period of time.  When you have 40+kgs of controlled distraction and mobilisation of your lower back, this is very different to a manual treatment.

At the end of my session today I can feel the changes.  You can feel slightly light headed from lying down and the work done on your lower back draws blood to the area.

I don’t have a back problem.  However, I do spend a lot of time at a computer or driving and with ageing, my lower back will become more stiff.  After a treatment I feel that my posture has been straightened out.  I feel I am walking taller and I feel that my lower back is less compressed.  That's just one treatment.

After a treatment on a SPINA machine, IDD Therapy clinics will always put a cold pack on the area.  Muscles are subjected to forces they are not used to and so it is natural to feel some soreness after the first few treatments.  This is like doing any exercise after a period of inactivity, your body needs to get conditioned to it.  The cold calms things down.

IDD Therapy has taken some time to get going in the UK.  However, with more clinic owners deciding to find out for why there is so much excitement within IDD clinics, they go on the machines themselves and instantly “get it”.

The reason IDD Therapy is growing rapidly now is because die hard manual therapists who experience the treatment are seeing the opportunity to combine the new category of mechanical treatment with the best in manual therapy and exercise.  Good news indeed for back pain sufferers.

     

We always stress that IDD Therapy is not an appropriate treatment for all conditions, however, when it is suitable, it can make a real difference. 

But don't take my word for it.  If you have a professional or personal interest in develpoments in back pain treatments, go along to an IDD Therapy treatment provider and find out for yourself.  If there isn't one near you today, I am sorry for that; all I can say is that with time there will be! 

The early adopters in the UK and Europe are all passionate and have years of experience.  They are only too happy to let people understand for themselves the objectives and differences in IDD treatment and offer IDD as part of a mix of care.

If you'd like some information to learn more about IDD Therapy feel free to contact me Stephen Small at stephen.small @ steadfastcorp.com

Steadfast is the European distributor of IDD Therapy and SPINA machines.  Our business is to help clinics do more for their patients, it's as simple as that.