Am I a candidate for spinal decompression?

**TL;DR:** Most people with disc herniation, bulging discs, degenerative disc disease, sciatica, pinched nerves, or spinal stenosis qualify for spinal decompression with added oscillation on the Accuspina table. The carve-outs are short: pregnancy, severe osteoporosis, recent spinal fractures, spinal hardware at the treated level, certain tumors, and abdominal aortic aneurysm. The only honest way to know if you qualify is the show-and-tell consultation, where Dr. Foudy reads your postural scan, surface EMG, and X-rays in one visit and tells you yes or no on the spot.

Can I help you?

Yes. 99% of the time, if you walked into the office because your back is on fire when you sit, or you have numbness shooting down your leg, or your neck has been locked up for months and the Advil and the ice and the heat have stopped working, we can help you. Over 37 years and more than 10,000 patients, the pattern is the same. People wait too long, they try everything they can buy at CVS, and by the time they call us, they are ready to talk about something that actually fixes the problem instead of muting it.

Spinal decompression with added oscillation is not for everyone. But the list of people it is for is long, and the list of people it is not for is short. Here is the honest version.

**You are likely a candidate if you have:**

• A bulging or herniated disc in the low back or neck, confirmed on MRI or strongly suspected on exam and X-ray
• Sciatica, that pain going down into your butt, down your leg, sometimes into the foot
• Degenerative disc disease, where the disc space has narrowed and the X-ray shows wear
• A pinched nerve causing numbness, tingling, or weakness in the arm or leg
• Spinal stenosis with nerve symptoms (not severe central canal stenosis with cord compression, which is a different conversation)
• Facet syndrome or chronic mechanical low back pain that has not responded to adjustments alone
• Failed back surgery syndrome in some cases, depending on what hardware is in there and where

**You are not a candidate if you have:**

• Pregnancy
• Severe osteoporosis where bone density cannot tolerate the traction load
• A recent spinal fracture that has not healed
• Spinal fusion, rods, or pedicle screws at the level we would be treating
• A tumor in or near the spine
• Abdominal aortic aneurysm
• An active infection in the spine

That is the real list. There is no in-between. If you have one of the disqualifiers, we will not put you on the table, and we will tell you that on day one, not on visit eight after you have paid for a package.

What is it actually?

Spinal decompression with added oscillation is a treatment, not a gadget. The Accuspina table holds your pelvis and your upper body in two harnesses and uses a computer-controlled pulley to apply a precise pulling force along the axis of your spine. While it pulls, it adds a small oscillation at the peak of the load. That oscillation is the part that matters and it is why we use Accuspina instead of a cheaper table.

Here is the analogy. Think of the disc between two vertebrae as a jelly donut. The outer ring is tough cartilage, the inside is a soft gel. When the disc herniates, the jelly squeezes out through a crack in the ring and presses on a nerve root. That nerve root is what runs down your leg or down your arm, and when it gets pressed on, the leg or the arm lights up.

Now, what does decompression do? When the table pulls, the two vertebrae separate just slightly, a millimeter or two, and the pressure inside the disc drops. That negative pressure is what pulls the jelly back toward the center, off the nerve. The oscillation at peak load is what helps that retraction actually happen instead of just stretching tissue and letting it snap back.

Think of your spine like the circuit breakers in the back of your house. When a disc is pressing on a nerve, that is a breaker that has been tripped. The signal that should be running clean down the leg is dropping out. Decompression is one of the ways we reset that breaker. The adjustment is another. The two together are why our in-practice results on the Accuspina table sit at around 91%.

Now, how do we know if your circuit breakers are tripped and at which levels? That is the consultation. Show and tell. One visit, all of it.

**What the show-and-tell exam includes:**

• Dual postural scales to read your weight-bearing differential side to side
• Protractor-measured range of motion in flexion, extension, and rotation
• Wartenberg pinwheel testing along the dermatomes to map where sensation is dropping out
• Reflex testing at the knee, ankle, biceps, triceps
• Surface EMG, which is what we call the EKG of your nervous system, reading the electrical activity level by level along your spine
• Digital X-rays, AP view, lateral view, and AP open-mouth if headaches are part of the picture
• Hands-on palpation that validates what the EMG and the X-rays are showing

By the end of that visit, Dr. Foudy will sit you down and answer the four questions every patient walks in with. Can I help you. What is it. How long. How much. If the answer to question one is no, you will know on day one.

How long does treatment take?

The standard plan is 20 visits over 6 to 8 weeks, three times a week to start, then we taper as the disc starts holding the correction.

| Phase | Visits | Frequency | What we are doing | |---|---|---|---| | Acute | 1 to 8 | 3x per week | Decompression, adjustment, intersegmental traction, electric stim. Reduce the bulge, calm the nerve. | | Corrective | 9 to 15 | 2 to 3x per week | Continue decompression. Melanie's rehab work starts to layer in. | | Stabilization | 16 to 20 | 2x per week | Decompression tapering. Corrective exercise to lock the gain in. | | Retainer | After visit 20 | 1 to 2x per month | Adjustment, maintenance. Like the retainer after the braces come off. |

This is where the braces and retainer analogy lives. When you get the braces off your teeth, you do not throw the retainer in the trash and assume your teeth will stay straight forever. You wear the retainer because the soft tissue around the teeth needs time to remember the new position. The disc is the same. After we have spent 20 visits coaxing the jelly back into the center of the donut, the surrounding ligaments and the muscles around the spine need to learn how to hold that position. The retainer package is how we hold it.

You have to brush your teeth. You have to eat good food. You have to exercise. It is called lifestyle. Your spine is the same.

Melanie, Dr. Foudy's wife, is a corrective exercise physiologist with two master's degrees and 34 years of practice. She is in office three days a week, and her rehab work usually kicks in around visit 15. That is the part of the plan that takes you from feeling better to staying better.

How much does it cost?

Clear numbers. Cash pricing. No surprises on a statement three months later.

• **Initial show-and-tell consultation**: includes postural exam, range of motion, surface EMG, X-rays, and Dr. Foudy's Report of Findings. Call the office for the current consult fee, because it depends on what imaging is needed.
• **20-visit Accuspina decompression package**: $3,000 prepaid. This is the package most decompression patients are on. Inside the package, the chiropractic adjustment is bundled in at half price for the full run.
• **Single Accuspina visit**: $160. Rarely sold. The reason is mechanical, not commercial. One decompression session does not fix a herniated disc. It is like taking one antibiotic pill and stopping. We will sell you a single visit if you insist, but we will tell you up front it is not what the research or the clinical experience supports.
• **Standard chiropractic adjustment visit**: $90 cash. That includes flexion-distraction, intersegmental traction, the industrial vibration platform, electric stim, and the Saunders neck traction unit when relevant. All the modalities, one price.
• **Massage and stretch with Melanie's rehab team**: $90 per hour.
• **Retainer phase after the 20-visit package**: $90 per adjustment visit, scheduled 1 to 2 times per month depending on the progress exam.

We do not bill insurance for decompression. The reason is that most insurance plans either do not cover it or will only authorize a handful of visits, which is not enough to do the job. Cash pricing keeps the plan honest, and the prepaid package is structured so the math works out in the patient's favor versus paying per visit.

When to call us

If any of the following sound like your week, pick up the phone.

• You have pain shooting from your low back down into your butt or down your leg, and it has been going on for more than two weeks
• You wake up so stiff and sore it takes you half an hour to get moving
• You have numbness or tingling in your hand, your arm, your foot, or your leg
• You feel a pinching sensation in your neck or low back when you change positions
• You have already tried ice, heat, Advil, and a heating pad, and nothing is working
• An MRI or a previous doctor has used the word herniation, bulge, protrusion, prolapse, degenerative disc disease, stenosis, or radiculopathy in your file
• You are being told the next step is an epidural injection or surgery, and you want to know if there is something to try first
• You had spinal surgery years ago and the pain is back

Dr. Foudy is in office in Mission Viejo at 28892 Marguerite Parkway, Suite 150. He has treated over 10,000 patients in this community across 37 years, including the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team from 1996 to 2004 during the gold medal run, and was named Chiropractor of the Year in 1999 by the Chiropractic Leadership Alliance.

The consultation is the only honest way to find out if you qualify for spinal decompression. One visit. You will see your postural scan, your EMG, your X-rays, and you will know on the spot whether the Accuspina table is the right answer for your spine.

Call the office at **(949) 365-0403** or book your show-and-tell consultation online. Carmen will answer, get you on the schedule, and walk you through what to bring.

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**About the author**

Dr. Michael Foudy, DC, has been in chiropractic practice in Mission Viejo for 37 years and has treated over 10,000 patients. He served as Official Chiropractor to the U.S. Women's Olympic and World Cup Soccer Teams from 1996 to 2004, and was named Chiropractor of the Year in 1999. His office, Foudy Chiropractic, is located at 28892 Marguerite Parkway, Suite 150 in Mission Viejo, California. Learn more at [/about](/about).